Geronimo Stilton: INTERPOL-Trouble In France: An Old Enemy Returns
by DrifterDan
Summary: A sequel to The Adventures of The Ghost. Julie, Colette's fashion designer friend competes in a fashion designing competition held and sponsored by Interpol in France. With The Rodent's Gazette crew invited along with new allies, all six competitors are captured by a resurrected enemy of The Crew. Will they be able to save the hostages and defeat their foe once and for all?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome my readers! I am back with the fourth setting to the Geronimo Stilton: INTERPOL series. I'm sorry with the long hiatus, because I've been writing 2 chapters at once. And I'm just gonna tell you all that I'll be accepting YOUR ideas for one-shot fics. That's right, fics on your request (no smut pls). And if you're just starting to read the canon from this fic, be sure to check out my old fics as well! So, here's the story! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer**

**I do not own Geronimo Stilton. **

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**Geronimo Stilton: INTERPOL-Trouble In France: The Return of An Old Enemy**

**Chapter 1**

**An Odd Discovery**

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**Little Tails Junior High, New Mouse City**

**Thursday, March 20, 2014**

**0803 hours**

It was the first day of spring for year 2014. The snow had melted, the trees and grass in the city were once again green as they should be and the flowers had bloomed in the gardens of my estate and everywhere else in the city. The sun shone over the buildings and fields, and the warm rays gave everyone a sense of relief after enduring a harsh winter.

And...I forgot to introduce myself again. My name is Danial Arif, a 14-year-old cyborg orphan, Malaysian multibillionaire, former junior iOS software designer, video games developer, full-time Interpol Junior Special Agent, and a junior special correspondent for New Mouse City's famouse newspaper, The Rodent's Gazette. I'm also the first human to ever reside in the city. What makes me a cyborg is that theres a microchip implanted in my brain that lets me control electronics remotely by changing brain signals to radio signals. And it used to aid me use the Force. (Did I ever tell you that I was a Jedi?)

At the moment, I walked down the hallway of the school after taking a ride in one of my autonomous cars, passing by lockers and other students as I carried a woodland camouflaged-saddlebag on the way to my locker, which neighbored to the lockers of my best friends, Benjamin and Pandora.

(Record scratch) What am I doing at school, you ask? Okay, here's how it went. I realized that I needed a form of certification to prove that I am educated when I grow up, and the only way to get it was to go back to school and earn a diploma, which is a few years from now. I registered myself to attend the school where my two best friends go to, Little Tails Junior High. (In Geronimo's books, it's called Little Tails Academy.) This automatically makes me the first human to go to that school. I started going to school somewhere in February, and the past several weeks have been good. Just a few minor setbacks like the school bully, Punk Rat bothering Benjamin, but I will be the one to fend them off. Plus, I was sitting in the same grade as Benjamin and Pandora, eighth grade.

As I was saying, I made a left with a squeak emitting from the sole of my Converse sneakers, and saw my two friends at their lockers on the left, with Pandora gathering her books for science class and Benjamin leaning against a red locker with an open book in his paw, biting on a pen and looking concentrated. They noticed me enter the hall and waved hello, and so I raised my hand up and waved back. A little fact, they've grown a bit taller now and started to look like true teenagers, and so was I. Each of them are now as tall as my eyes, and I was now 5 feet 4 inches.

"Pandora! Benjamin!" I called out from along the hall as I made my way to them.

"Danny! How're you doing?" Benjamin greeted. By then, I already got to them. He was still on his green book.

"Just fine," I answered. I peeked at his book. "Is that the science homework from yesterday?"

"Yeah..." he squeaked, continuing to bite on his pen. "There's one more question to answer. What do you think will oxygen do to a glowing splinter?"

Easily thought out, I helped him answered the question. "Well, essentially, oxygen helps in combustion. So I'd say that the glowing splinter would ignite on fire."

"Huh, didn't thought of that before. Thanks!" he said. He proceeded to write down what I had explained.

Meanwhile, Pandora had just finished gathering her books and closed up her locker. I assumed that she noticed my new style. "Hey! you buttoned your shirt! It makes you look slim," she complemented. It was true, I had never buttoned my plaid shirts after what happened to my family in 2011.

"Really? Thanks, but this isn't new. I used to where like this when I was twelve," I explained.

"You still look cool, though," Benjamin added.

I was flattered that my new style was well accepted by them, and hoped that other classmates did too. Then a single tickle in my throat made me let out a small cough. I needed water, and spotted the water fountain at the corner of the hall from which I came. "Hey, I'm gonna head to the water fountain for a bit, my throat's dry," I said to the two.

"We won't go anywhere," replied Pandora.

I walked with big steps, and drank out of the water fountain as soon as I got to it.

Out of nowhere, Punk Rat comes into the hallways looking as bad and frightening as ever. In fact, he's been in all sorts of trouble as the years pass by. He's not just a troublemaker, he's now a delinquent. He was caught vandalizing, pulling dangerous pranks, and even performed a wedgie on most of the schools unpopular kids. Not on Benjamin though, he knows that I'll be there to protect him. And the consequences if he does something bad to him.

His eyes were locked on one of his usual target, Benjamin. But unluckily, the distance between them and the water fountain were yards away and I was unaware of the situation, so I wasn't there to help him out of this mess.

Yet.

He got closer to the two teenage mice. "Well, well...if isn't Benjamin Stilton," he began, getting in on Benjamin's face.

"What do you want from me, Punk Rat?" Benjamin rhetorically asked, shooting a frowned and cold stare at his enemy, eye to eye.

"What are you doing with my girlfriend?" he asked back, referring to Pandora. You see, Punk Rat has has a crush on her just like Benjamin does, but he claims that they're both in a relationship when they're actually not.

"I was NEVER your girlfriend, Punk Rat," Pandora rejected the statement. "Yuck..."

"I know you don't mean that, babe," he said. "Step aside, short stuff!" Punk Rat shoved the orange-furred mouse away like a group of eraser shavings.

Dropped 4 feet away, the brave and enraged Benjamin tried to get to his best friend by trying to push Punk Rat away. But his efforts were in vain as the bully was a lot heavier, and he didn't have the strength. Punk Rat just held him by the head as he got Pandora cornered against the lockers.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Benjamin warned, struggling to get to Pandora.

I heard the shout, and noticed that the two were in trouble again. I stopped drinking, wiped away the excess water on my lip, and hurried to the scene. For the record, this was the eighth time I fend him off this month.

Ignoring his victim, Punk Rat pretended to be all suave and dived in slowly to Pandora's snout. "Now, where were we, babe?" he said the lines of "sweet and romantic".

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU CREEP!" she shouted, backing up against the lockers.

Ignoring her demands, Punk Rat started to pucker up his lips, getting ready for a kiss. Pandora shifted her eyes left and right, trying but failed to find a loophole to escape through. She turned her head to the side and unwillingly prepared for the worst. Benjamin was struggling as hard as ever to get past Punk Rat's giant paws.

I saw the situation intensifying and taking a wrong turn. Every mouse in the hall just watching what was going on, standing still as they were too feared to interfere. But not me. "HEY!" I yelled, instantly stopping and catching Punk Rat's attention.

"You again?!" Punk Rat reacted upon sight of me.

"When a girl wants you to back off, you back off," I stated, sounding defensive.

He left Benjamin and Pandora so he could face me. Meanwhile, Benjamin went to check on his dear friend to see if the bully had done something to her.

"Who're to to tell me what to do?! She ain't your girlfriend!" he disputed.

"She ain't yours either," I replied. "Now I kindly advise you step off from my friends and walk away."

"And I advise you to shut up before I smash your face!" he threatened, bashing his fist with the palm of his paw.

"You want a piece of this? Well, come at me, bro!" I said, giving my chest a hard pat. "That is, if you even have the balls to do it."

He felt challenged. I saw his veins throb at the corner of his forehead, getting agitated by every word I said. The place was starting to heat up at the halls, because something big was about to happen. "I've been wanting to do this ever since you came, filthy human..." he insulted.

He came charging at me like an angry bull with a long and loud battle cry. But I stood tall and strong, not a single feeling of intimidation entered my brain. He continued to run while charging a fist so he could land a punch. Instead, when the timing got perfect, I took a step to the left to avoid the fist, caught his arm with my right hand, his hair with my left when he went by me, pulled him so he'd turn and slammed his snout to the lockers with a bang. Next, I put the arm I grabbed on his back and pushed against it, and held his head against the wall.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" I taunted, whispering into his ear with a scary voice. "Now you listen to me. If I catch you bothering my friends or hearing them tell me that you bothered them, I will make sure that I return the favor by giving you a black eye and a broken tail. Got that?!"

Beginning to grow scared, he nodded as he was shaken by my capabilities. "And one more thing. Remember that we three are full-time Interpol Junior Special Agents, so if pull that stupid stunt off one more time to any girl and especially Pandora, I'm gonna have you sent to juvy for harassing a girl."

He nodded again. "Stop pushing my arm, your hurting me!" he pleaded.

"Don't like that, do ya? Huh?!" I said, pushing his arm up. "How about this, huh?! Don't like that?!" I flicked his ear with my finger. "What about this?!" I gave him a minor shock by electrocuting him with a finger's worth of Force Lightning...

Wait...Force Lightning? As a Jedi, I wasn't supposed to have Force Lightning.

I was unaware that both Benjamin and Pandora witnessed me use the power from the Dark Side of The Force. They kept gazing at me with raised eyebrows and exchanged worried looks. Yes, they knew that I was a Jedi if that's what you're asking.

"When I let go of you, you run. Never look back," I told him. He responded with a nod. I set him free, seeing him take off in a fright and disappeared to another hall of the school.

I readjusted my collar before I turned back to the stunned mice, approaching them with my hands in my pockets. "You're welcome," I began, fixing a enigmatic smile. They gave no response but look at each other wide-eyed. The next thing I knew, they pulled me to an unlocked janitor's closet next to our block of lockers.

"Whoa! Guys! What's going on?" I asked them.

"Dude, you just used a Force power in public!" Benjamin explained, whispering.

I frowned. "I did?!" I said in disbelief, trying to recall.

"Even worse, you used Force Lightning," Pandora added.

In my mind with the power of the microchip in my brain, I played back the memories that I recorded with my eyes. Then there it was, me using Force Lightning on Punk Rat when I got him pinned.

I returned to reality, panicking. "Oh, God... What's happening to me?!"

"I don't know, but you should go back to California and see Professor Philips. Maybe he knows what's going on," Benjamin suggested. Professor Graham Philips was the British-born genius who co-invented the microchip, and he's also my Jedi master. He lives in Los Angeles and works at Caltech as a lecturer and a researcher in biotechnology.

"Good idea," I agreed.

We ended our conversation and left the janitor's closet for our science class as the morning bell rang.


	2. Chapter 2-Trip To California

**The same disclaimer is applied to all chapters.**

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**Chapter 2**

**Trip To California**

**The Rodent's Gazette, 17 Swiss Lane**

**1550 hours**

After school ended, another one of my cars came to pick us up from school and drove us to The Rodent's Gazette. This time, a BMW M6 Grand Coupé I named Geschwind. We rode the elevator up from basement parking, then headed straight to Geronimo's office.

The door was wide open, coming out of the office was the sound from the wall-mounted flatscreen. Geronimo was watching his favorite afternoon drama series again while his staff works elsewhere in the building and his correspondents out and searching for a scoop, not including myself.

As we entered, I noted the absence of certain mice in the room which I was trying to get used to. Trap was running his store a few blocks down the street, Pandora's aunt, Patty Springs which usually comes by to pick her up after I gave her and Benjamin a ride here (Geronimo could get a little nervous when he's with her because he has a crush on her) but Pandora told her that she'd stay at the office and have Geronimo send her home.

And the most noticeable absence of all was Thea. She wasn't anywhere around New Mouse City ever since she was sent back to Whale Island to teach her students at Mouseford Academy for the new semester. I was trying to get use to her being gone for 14 weeks, yet I failed miserably. It's been only two weeks since she left and I missed her already! She's my friend and stepsister, how couldn't I? Plus, it does get really boring sometimes when Geronimo assigns me to search for scoops with him after school.

Geronimo was on his chair at his desk when he saw us come in. "Ah! You're all back from school," he squeaked.

Without a reply, I started to give out orders to everyone as we stepped in. "Pandora, close the curtains. Benjamin, shut the door, lock it, then make sure that the room is secure. I don't want any ears spying on us."

Pandora without question knew what the orders were for, and got to the windows behind Geronimo's desk and pulled the green curtains. Benjamin with an "Affirmative!" as a response and locked the door behind him shut, and went to check all the corners of the office to look out for any spying bugs.

Geronimo in mysteriousness demanded to know what was going on. "Mouselings? Danny? What's the meaning of this?" he asked as the office turned dark after Pandora got the curtains to shut.

I got him cheesed off when I waved my hand out to the TV and sent out neurosignals from the microchip to the TV that channeled out my hand by neurotransmitters planted in my fingers. "Hey! I was watching that!" he reacted.

"Benjamin! Is this place safe to talk?" I said.

He was looking inside the big grandfather clock by the fireplace. "The room is secure," he reported.

"Danny, may I ask what is going on?" demanded Geronimo.

I went to in front of him. "First, I want all electronics turned off. Huddle up everyone's iPhones to the desk." Our pockets were emptied of our iPhone 5Ss, and we gathered them on the desktop. I waved my hand above all of them, sending out commands to the phones and shut them off.

"Alright, NOW are you going to tell me?" asked Geronimo again, unable to hold his curiosity.

I explained the whole thing briefly. "Okay, at school, Benjamin and Pandora got into trouble with Punk Rat again. I was there to save him, got Punk Rat slammed and pinned to the lockers, and this happened." Waving my hand at the flatscreen, I played the digital memory I stored in the chip.

Geronimo witnessed me use Force Lightning in the clip, and he frowned at it. "Force Lightning? As a Jedi, I thought you weren't supposed to have that power," he said.

"That's what had _me_ worried. I don't know if I'm turning Sith or something, but this is why I need to get to California to consult with Professor Philips. Only he knows what's going on," I explained.

As expected, he knows. "You're making an excuse to not search scoops with me again, aren't you?" I'll tell you readers why.

"That's besides the point. Plus, you drive really slow!" I emphasized.

_**1 week ago...**_

_"Geronimo? Can you drive a little bit faster?"_

_"Why should I?"_

_"We need to get to the scoop before Rasmoussen and Squealer do."_

_"I think we will get there before them at this speed. After all, better to be safe that's sorry."_

_"I get that, but...sigh...G? I built Terra (Geronimo's Cadillac CTS-V Sedan) so the she has thousand horsepower from her V8! Specifically meant to be used for these situations! And you're saying that you're refusing to use the remaining 934 horsepower."_

_"Danny, I'll only use Terra's full power output on pursuits. I'm currently a member of the media, so I tend to abide the law when I'm not working as an Interpol agent."_

_"...Geronimo? You do that the speed limits in the city are 55 miles an hour, right?"_

_"Yeah? So?"_

_"You're driving on 10." (Could drive a little faster?)_

See what I mean when I said boring?

"When are you leaving?" Benjamin interrupted.

"I'll fly out soon...tonight, maybe. So I won't be around to chase scoops with you till Sunday probably."

"I suggest that you better pack up now if you're leaving tonight," said Geronimo.

"Sounds good..."

"One more thing, would you like me to arrange a private jet for you from Interpol?"

"That'd be great. Thanks."

I went home with Geschwind, packed up light and waited for the night. Later that day, I went to Angorat International Airport and flew off for California in one of Interpol's private jets.

* * *

**Los Angeles, California**

**March 21, 2014**

**12.45 p.m.**

_RING! "Professor Graham Philips speaking."_

_"Professor, it's me."_

_"Danial! It's good to hear from you again! It's been so long! Is everything okay? Because sixteen hours ago, I felt a disturbance in the Force."_

_"Uh, about that...I need to see you."_

_"When?"_

_"ASAP. I just landed in Los Angeles, and right now I'm at LAX. We'll meet at Caltech. I've got a huge problem."_

_"How huge?"_

_"ENORMOUS. It involves my Force powers. I'll explain when we get to the research lab."_

_"I'm on my way."_

_"I'll see you in half an hour."_

I landed in California several hours later, having myself jet lagged after flying across the United States. I wanted to see the Professor immediately, so I never bothered to settle in first and hired a cab straight to Caltech.

* * *

**California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd**

**1.18 p.m.**

The cab dropped me off at the sidewalk just at the front entrance of the campus. I paid a huge tip with a sincere smile to the driver, and watched him drive away to look for more fares.

I stood in the middle of the afternoon heat as my eyes followed the cab go, they stopped when it overtook the fiery red Porsche 911 GT2 RS parked in front of where the cab stopped. It was the Professor's car, his own. The driver, which was Prof Philips, stepped out and turned around at me as he closed the door. He wore his usual formal outfit, a blue shirt tucked in his black pair of slacks. He's aged a bit now at 41 years old, but he still managed to maintain the tone of his blonde hair. Either that or he dyed it.

"Danny! It's good to see you again," he greeted as he remotely locked his car, going 'beep'.

He approached me and held his arms wide open. "It's good to see you too, dad," I said. We gave each other a tight hug. I called him 'dad' because he's been my foster parent ever since my parents passed away.

Letting go of the embrace, he asked; "So, what happened in New Mouse City?"

"I'll explain on the way to the lab," I proposed.

We walked the campus grounds starting from its front entrance as I pulled my compact carry on, in the same time explaining what happened.

"It happened yesterday. I just arrived at school as usual, saw my two best friends, Benjamin and Pandora. After talking to them for a bit, I went for a drink at the water fountain down the hall. Then the school bully, Punk Rat, he came and bothered them, so I decided to help. I confronted him, got him pinned against the lockers, and it happened."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Not did I only use a Force power in public, it was nothing from the Light Side of the Force. I exerted Force Lightning out of my index finger."

He began to look worried. "Force Lightning? Are you sure?"

"Benjamin and Pandora saw me use it, and when I recalled from my replay-able memory, I _did_ see that I used the Force Lightning."

"Then we must not waste time. Race-walk with me, lad," he ordered.

After a minute of speed walking, we got to the entrance of Caltech's secret research labs. On top was a disguise of a shop while the labs are underground. We entered the shop, and the Professor greeted the cashier/guard of the secret entrance. We proceeded to the stockroom, where the elevator was located.

Camouflaged as a solid wall, we rode the elevator 30 stories down to the labs. It took a minute, but we got there. No one was seen but us in the labs as the doors opened, the professor said that all of the labs' staff was given a day off.

We continued to venture deeper into the lab until we reached the room that I haven't been into in a while ever since the chip's last upgrade, the microchip's development room. Only a few people can access it, including Professor Philips and myself.

An iris recognition scan was needed for us to enter. A panel where the prof placed his eye in front of scanned, and unlocked the high-density, but thin, solid steel vault door.

Inside was a large cube glass testing chamber with an area of 100 square meters, where I test all my powers (Force powers specifically). Black walls and floor decorated by blue streaks of LED lighting, and the room itself was lit by the lights installed in the floor of the testing chamber, covered by another layer of glass.

"Now, let's get on with the SDRB procedure first," he said as the door behind us shut itself. The procedure was to scan, detect and repair any weaknesses or deformities to the chip. When the procedure detects any, the professor will inject a few thousand microscopic nanobots into my blood stream and make their way to the brain, and they will repair the damage in the chip. Thus the 'SDR' part of the acronym. The 'B' stood for 'backup', as in memory backup. All digital memories I had in the chip will be uploaded to a server in the lab itself.

"Professor, do we have to?" I whined. The procedure could take up to half an hour with the memory backup.

"We must...it's _standard_ procedure," he told me. For the 12th time.

The scan took fifteen minutes to make sure that the neurotransmitters were functioning properly (which they did), and to ensure that a device called the dark matter (scientific for the Force) collector was fully operating as well. (It used to assist me whenever I used the Force before I became a strong Jedi and before I discovered my ultimate Jedi form.)

"Hmm...everything's in perfect condition. And now for the backup. I'll have your chip connected to the server and you may relax while the backup is in process," said the professor. And so, I sat down at the lounge space sofa as I played video games on my iPhone.

15 minutes later, the backup was done. And it was time to show the professor what happened. "The backups done, now you can demonstrate the Force Lightning," he said.

"Okay, if you say so..." But I forgot to step into the glass testing chamber. ALL Force powers must be tested inside the 4-inch thick glass chamber.

"Danny, you have to..." But before the professor could even finish his protest, blue lightning bolts shot out of my ten fingers, directed to a glass flask on a metal table. The lightning was so strong, the prof had to back off, shielding his eyes for the light was too bright and wind was blowing inside the room. What was left of the flask was thousands of shattered glass pieces.

"I'll be honest, I wasn't even angry at that time," I told, raising my hands up.

"...I say, that was really strong. Even for a young Jedi like you," he stated. "Are you sure that wasn't fueled with anger or hatred?"

"Now that you reminded me, I still have a bit of hatred toward Punk Rat. But I didn't think of him when I deployed Force Lightning," I told.

"Hmm...step into the test chamber. We'll test more Force powers and see if your strength has improved."

While I marched to the entrance of the chamber that was sealed off, Professor Philips stood still and voice commanded the AI to unseal the chamber's entrance. When I was already in, he told me; "I'll name you the Force power, and you deploy it," he said through built-in microphones in the lab.

I heard his words from the speakers inside the chamber. "I'm ready," I signaled, cracking my fingers and jumping around to get the blood pumping.

"Force Push."

I deployed the Force power with my right hand, and it felt really strong indeed. I was almost pushed backwards and the wall stopped the push with a loud bang.

The glass wall of the chamber was also used to sense the impact of the Force power using nanotechnology built in the glass itself. The female computer voice in the room said; "Magnitude: 7 Gs."

"My, my... Your powers have certainly grown stronger," the prof said from the other side of the glass. "Let's test more to see how much strong they've become."

"Gimme your best shot," I replied, hopping around energetically.

He named all the Force abilities that Jedi normally use in combat situations, meaning all destructive powers like Electric Judgement. I scored 12000 volts, twice the juice than what it used to be. In terms of Telekinesis, Prof Philips gave me a tennis ball to Force Throw at the wall. Motion sensors in the chamber detected that I threw the ball at 267 miles an hour, nearly thrice the speed than before. And my Force Repulse was recorded to push away at 8 Gs of force.

Next, he brought down a popup turret from the ceiling, basically a robot holding an FN M240 SAW machine gun. Fed with a belt of 200 7.62 NATO rounds, he told me to deflect every bullet that came to me at ten meters across. Result: none of the rounds hit me. Then, he brought down another robot turret armed with a Barrett M82 anti-materiel rifle. Prof told me to catch the bullet at Mach 3 with Telekinesis, which I did. Before, I could only stop until .308 rounds. I could now stop .50 BMG rounds.

"I sense that the Force is strong within you, lad," the professor said. "Now, let's try your dark powers."

A few minutes went by as I deployed the dark Force powers, and discovered that I could use do all of them. We recorded that my Force Lightning reached 20000 volts, almost twice than the Electric Judgement. The Force Whirlwind, a Force Push combined with Force Lightning, recorded 7.2 Gs along with 20100 volts. And Force Storm got to 28000 volts.

"Your dark matter collector didn't even aid you. Tell me, do you feel weak or fatigued?" He asked that because in the past when I tried to use certain powers, I'd pass out.

"No, I feel normal," I said.

"And do you feel any anger in you?"

"None."

He made his conclusion. "My word... Danny my boy, you are not an average Jedi."

I felt intrigued. "Is that good?" I asked.

"It's great, in fact. You're a rare type of Jedi, a special one. You're a Jedi that posses powers from both sides of the Force. And you're guaranteed to not fall to the dark side."

"Oh thank God... I thought I was turning Sith."

"No, absolutely not."

Relief immediately cooled down my worries. "Wow...it feels good to be told that..."

He frowned yet wore a smug face to his fascination of my development. "It definitely is," he said. "Let's continue the test, shall we?"

"What do you want me to do now?"

"Transform into your ultimate Jedi form. I want to see if your power's strength in your normal state affects the powers in your ultimate form."

How I did it was simple: cross my arms over my chest and threw them out. In a flash of light, my appearance changed. Clothes were replaced with a Jedi robe, my eyes turned from deep brown to angel blue, and my hair was colored in light brown.

"Are we starting the test all over again?"

"Yes, we are."

"Okay then..."

We continued the test in my ultimate Jedi form. And yes, the strength of every power increased greatly. Force Push went up to 8 Gs, Force Repulse now at 10 Gs (almost fatal), Electric Judgement recorded 28000 volts while Force Lightning achieved 32000 volts. Finally, Force Storm reached 50000 volts.

We tested every Force power the professor could think of. Running out of ideas, he kept stroking his chin. "What else have I missed..." he said, brainstorming of what should I do next. Then he had a thought, and snapped his fingers. "That's it! Danial, I want you to do Force Maelstrom."

I repelled in disbelief. "Force Maelstrom?! But Prof! Have you seen what I did to Concourse D at McCarran International?" I was referring to the events that happened in my past and first adventure with the Stiltons a few months ago. Stopping an old (and hopefully dead) enemy by trying to sacrifice myself to save Thea from being electrocuted to death. But I survived, and demolished Concourse D in the process by using the Maelstrom.

"Yes, it was all in the news. Yes, I know the risk and I'll be willing to take it. And don't worry, I've reinforced the glass...and hopefully it survives the blast," he rhymed, concerned about the test chamber.

"If you say so..."

I began by focusing all my energy on the Force around me. I stood with a stance with my legs and arms spread out, my back bent, then I started to form a Protection Bubble. Flashes of lightning appeared around me, and Telekinesis made the tennis ball and all the spent shells from the turrets levitate and spin around me. As I focused even harder, the lightning flashed brighter and more frequent. It made tthe professor worried of his own safety, so he toppled the coffee table at the lounge with its top facing the test chamber and ducked behind it for cover. Then as I was trying to soak up more of the Force in the chamber, the glass walls began to crack because it was being sucked in. Unaware that it was already majorly cracked like tempered glass, I let it all out in one big, violent, and catastrophic Repulse. In the process, the test chamber was completely destroyed, scattering tiny bits of glass everywhere.

I was left bug-eyed and slack-jawed after realizing that I had busted a 2-million dollar piece of high-tech research equipment. "I did NOT expect that..." I said to my surprise.

"I did..." Professor Philips trembled slightly, peeping out from behind the table to see the destruction I caused.

Despite the glass being gone, the computer managed to record the magnitude of the Repulse. "Magnitude: 12 Gs," it said. Remember, every force reacting above 10 Gs can KILL you.

Professor Philips came out of cover and walked on the wreckage, making crackling sounds as the sole of his shoes stepped on the broken glass. "12 Gs?" he said in disbelief. "Gracious...conclusion! Never use a Force power that strong in a building."

"Agreed," I said, closing in on each other. "So, what would I tell The Crew?"

He put his arms akimbo. "Tell them that you're not Sith. That's important." I nodded to his words. "So, where are you staying?"

"I don't have a place to stay yet, and my old beach house is a long way from here. Figure that I'd stay at your place?"

"Sounds like an idea, and it'll be a pleasure to have you back at my home."

We proceeded to head to the professor's home and rest, and leave the cleaning up to the other scientists.

"Say, Danny, where do your normal clothes go when you transform?" he asked on the way out.

And honestly, I don't have a clue. "Dunno, but they usually end up in places where clothes usually are..."

We hopped into the prof's Porsche, and sped to his home to rest for my return to New Mouse City in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3-Thea's Return

**A/N: What is up people? Malaysianpro back with another chapter. I'm sorry I've been silent for a while, it's just that two weeks back I was preparing for a test. You know, got some real life stuff to deal with. Now without further a due, I give you chapter three (with my first character shipping)! Hope y'all like it!**

**Note: Disclaimers from previous chapters and stories will be applied here. **

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Thea's Return**

**The Rodent's Gazette, 17 Swiss Lane**

**Saturday, March 22, 2014**

**1056 hours**

I flew back to New Mouse City yesterday afternoon in the same private jet and touched down at at night in the same day. After a good 9 hours of sleep, I jumped out of bed, got bathed and dressed, then took another one of my cars to The Rodent's Gazette.

I rode the elevator up just after Storm, my green Lamborghini Huracán parked himself down at the basement parking next to Geronimo's Cadillac, Terra. I assumed that everyone would be there so I could tell them the great news.

I ambled through the halls on my way to Geronimo's office, which it's door is left opened a crack wide. I heard the squeaks of my friends leaking out through that crack, especially Benjamin mentioning about me. "Hope Danny's doing okay," he said. Good thing I was there to surprise him.

I pushed the door painted in olive green and strode into the office without knocking. "Then doing just fine I am," I interrupted, coming in with a ecstatic smile.

"Danny!" Benjamin, Pandora, Geronimo and Trap called. The two mouselings came to me two greet and hug after a two-day disappearance.

"I thought you weren't supposed to be back till tomorrow," Geronimo stated.

"When did you fly back?" asked Pandora.

"Yesterday afternoon, landed here at night," I answered. "It didn't take long after all."

"So, what did Professor Philips say about your Force powers?" Geronimo eagerly asked, though still managed to smirk.

Clapping my hands once, I decided to deliver the good news. "Alright, great news guys. Three, actually. Um...first great news, we can all sigh in relief because I am NOT turning Sith."

As anticipated, everyone sighed. "But, what about your dark powers? What'd he say about that?" Benjamin wondered.

"Which brings us to the next great news," I continued. "Prof said that I'm a special kind of Jedi. A Jedi who possesses powers both from the Dark Side and the Light Side without falling to the Dark."

"What's the third news?" Trap asked.

"Third, the strength of my Force abilities have been multiplied, especially in my ultimate form. Now if a threat as big as Brazier Williams shows up in the world, I'll be able to kick butt way more times as hard. But we don't want that anymore, do we?"

Brazier Williams was the man who went after the microchip a few months back. He was the original creator if the chip back in the 90s, worked alongside Professor Phillips in creating it. His main intent was to wage a second American Revolutionary War by mass producing the chip and implant it into the soldiers of the British Army, thus creating super soldiers. He was also the same man who killed my family and Geronimo's childhood friend, Professor Charles Edam.

"We certainly don't..." Geronimo said in worry. Williams was his sworn enemy and he's supposed to be dead when we confronted each other at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

Thinking of Thea again, I started to miss her. "I just wish Thea was here so I could tell her that," I said.

"Then here I am..." said a familiar female voice at the door. We all turned our attention to her, and to our surprise...

It was Thea! She's back from Mouseford Academy! I was thinking: I thought she wouldn't be back in New Mouse City for another two months. Her appearance roused my curiosity.

I was boosted up even more. "Thea!" everyone called (except Geronimo), with me being the gladdest one to see her...and with Geronimo wearing a smirk. Suspicious.

Already knew what to do, I approached her so I could give her a bro hug. "How's it been, sis?" I asked as I slapped my hand on her paw.

Pulling me in for the bro hug, she squeaked as she patted me on the back: "It's been great, lately. Miss me much?"

"You're my big stepsis. How could I not?" I replied. I forgot to tell that I was adopted into the Stilton family.

We let go of our clutches, and let my inquisitiveness get the best of me. "What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn't be back till summer."

"I was, but, Professor de Mousus asked me to give the Thea Sisters a field assignment for journalism class and all of us are supposed to help them. I told Geronimo yesterday that I'd be back here before we set off for the assignment. Didn't he tell you?"

I turned to Geronimo and shot him a frowned smile. "You knew Thea was coming back here and you didn't tell me?" I said as I gestured a finger at him.

Sitting at his desk, he pretended to use his MacBook Air, and giggled. "You were gone yesterday! How was I supposed to bring the news to you?" he said sarcastically.

"You could have called me!"

Yet, he gave another excuse. "I didn't have international coverage..."

"Excuse me, G, you could've FaceTimed me with your MacBook...or your iPhone?"

I knew by then he was out of excuses. "Well...I...uh..."

Annoyed, I asked the gang to see if they got the news as well. "Guys, did he tell you that Thea was coming back?"

"Not even a single squeak..." Benjamin clarified, crossing his arms.

We all gave him a look that demanded an explanation, until he finally spilt the beans. "Fine, I'll tell you. I knew this would be a great surprise for Danny because in the past two weeks, he wasn't as cheerful as he used to be. So I decided to not tell him because I knew he'd be happy again if he saw her by surprise."

I changed emotions when he stated the purpose of his secrecy. "That's a nice thing you did for me, Geronimo. Much obliged."

"No need to return the favor..."

I got back to Thea to continue our talk. "So, the Thea Sisters. What do they have to do?"

"How's about we let them explain. Girls, that's your queue."

Came five other mice through the door, looking much younger than Thea. They were also familiar, because it was none other than Thea's students, the Thea Sisters. Besides being students, they've become part time Interpol Special Ops Agents after the McCarran Disaster a few months back, and they are a part of our team dubbed The Crew when we go on Interpol missions.

"The Thea Sisters? You brought them along with you?" I rhetorically asked Thea.

"What are you girls doing here?" Trap wondered.

"We came to explain to you all what our assignment is about," Paulina answered.

"Oh yeah, the assignment," I reminded myself. "Lay it on us."

Colette stepped to the front. "Professor de Mousus told us zat Interpol will be hosting its first Women's Tactical Fashion Designing competition in Paris."

I tried to process everything she said. "Wait, Interpol? Women's tactical fashion?"

"Oui," she confirmed. "Interpol will be sponsoring the event. Six competitors will have to make zheir best designs for female Interpol agents like moi," she gestured to herself, "to work on the field. Say like...oh..." She tried to come up with an example while snapping her fingers.

"A war zone?" Pamela interrupted.

"A battlefield?" Violet suggested.

"Working in a stealth ops?" Paulina squeaked.

"Raiding a warehouse full of terrorists?" Nicky said.

Colette didn't know which to pick. "Basically...what they said," she agreed. "It will be held for a week, starting at Monday. Zhere will be one category for each day; Winter, Desert, Urban, Jungle, Forest, Woodland, and Ghillie."

"Designs will be judged by protection level, functionality, features, ability to camouflage and also necessary loadout," Paulina added.

Thea interjects. "Winner of the competition will get their designs adopted into Interpol for the agency's female agents to wea and the grand prize of €500,000."

"Professor de Mousus told us to get interviews of the contestants, and extra credit if we make it live on TV," Pamela stated.

"How are you gonna make it on TV?" I asked.

Geronimo then squeaks up from his desk. "Ah, that's why, as Thea said, we will help them because guess which media network the General Secretariat chose to cover and broadcast the event live when it starts."

I repelled in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me! The General Secretariat picked us?"

"Exactly. Which is also why all of us are flying to Paris."

"And guess what? One of the contestants of the competition is Colette's friend, Julie!" Violet informed.

I've heard of that name. "Julie..." I wondered.

"You know her?" Colette asked me.

Then I finally remembered. "Oh, yeah. I've read about her in Thea's books. I heard that she's a fashionista. She should have a better chance in winning, but it depends on the other competitors as well."

"Oh, I just can't wait to see here again!" she said. "I haven't seen her in a while."

"A fashion-themed adventure...sounds like it's gonna be great!" Pandora exclaimed.

"When do we fly out?" I said.

"Better have your bags packed, because we're taking off tomorrow morning," answered Thea.

"Way ahead of ya..." I placed two fingers on my temple to contact my smart home security system, J-Son. "J-Son, pack me a carry on with a week's worth of clothing...and uh...are you girls busy later?"

"We have nothing planned, why?" Nicky told.

"J-Son, send Anton, Colette (not this Colette), and Pierre to The Rodent's Gazette, I'm lending them over to the Thea Sisters for an afternoon in the city," I ordered. They all squealed giddily for a bit because Anton, Colette and Pierre are 3 of my 4 autonomous Bugattis. The Thea Sisters do know who they were because they've met once ago on our first adventure.

Anton is an adventurous Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, Colette is a tomboyish Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, and Pierre, the leader of them all, is a Veyron 16.4 Super Sport.

But Pamela, being an auto addict, knows and requested something faster from my garage. "Psst...hey Danny," she called.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Can I make a request?"

"What is it?"

"Can I drive Phantom instead of Pierre?"

"Phantom? My Agera R?" Phantom is a smart autonomous Koenigsegg Agera R, and the leader of his own squad which are also his siblings, called the Ghosts. Pamela has grown rather fond of him after driving him 2000 miles across the United States in our first adventure.

As a gentleman, how could I say no to a woman? "Of course," I permitted. Pamela in a joyful state, pumped her fists in victory. So I contacted J-Son again to make changes. "J-Son, instead of Pierre, have Phantom to come over. Pam here misses him."

"Orders received, cars are en route to your location," J-Son confirmed.

I turned to the group of mice. "You girls just wait here. They'll call the office telephone when they arrive," I informed them.

"We're not going anywhere," Paulina said taking a seat on one of the beanbags in the office with an iPad in her paws.

And speaking of calls, someone gave Geronimo's phone a ring. "You've reached The Rodent's Gazette, Geronimo Stilton squeaking," Geronimo began after picking up. I was listening to the call with enhanced hearing, it was one of the Gazette's messengers. "A tanker truck on fire at Highway 45? I'm on my way with a camera crew."

He declared shortly after he hung up: "We've got a burning tanker truck on Highway 45. Who's coming with me to cover it?"

"I'll come with. It's been a while since I haven't chased a scoop," Thea volunteered.

"I'll get the camera," Pandora followed.

"I think I'm gonna hang here. You guys go ahead," Benjamin passed.

"Suit yourself, but you're gonna miss out," added Pandora on the way out.

The door closed shut as our eyes followed them out, then Benjamin immediately turned around to face me. "Danny, I gotta talk to you for a moment," he whispered.

"About what?"

"Come with me."

Without awareness from the Thea Sisters, Benjamin made me follow him into the closet in the office, and closed the door shut. To lighten up the darkness, he activated the flashlight on his iPhone and placed it flat on the ground. We sat down cross-legged on the floor and began discussing.

"So, break it to me," I demanded.

"Alright. Yesterday at school, Principle Stiffwhiskers announced that the school's holding the annual Little Tails Spring Talent Show in a week from now."

"Yeah?"

"I signed up our names. Here's basically what you need to do; play the piano while I hold the microphone and sing."

"WHAT?!" I said aloud in disbelief. The door wasn't completely soundproof, so other people could've heard.

"Now, I know that you're disagreeing. But I need you to do this one favor for me-"

"No, no...me being on stage is completely okay. But...I never knew you could sing!"

"You thought I couldn't sing?"

"...Well...yeah, because you hitting puberty and all...and your voice is starting to break."

"Not just yet..."

"Okay then, try me."

He began with a long and high 'ooh', and he hit that note perfectly. It was literally music to my ears. He ended it with a low note, with a little vibrato before he stopped.

It was mind blowing how he sang. "You...have quality, that's all I have to say. So, is the song gonna need drums? Cuz we're the only two in our band."

"We don't need drums. We need beats and synths from a DJ."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"Flash."

"Flash? The school jock?" Flash is also one of my friends, Benjamin's also. He's a part of the school's football team, the Little Tails Twisters. He's extremely good with computers despite being a jock.

"Yeah, already signed him up too and he's thinks its a great idea. He's got great DJ skills. Last year, he became an MC for last year's prom."

"Another shocker for me then..." But he didn't state why he entered. "So, what do you want to prove in this talent show? So everyone knows you can sing?"

"No, not that. Everyone knows I can sing. It's...sigh. Dan, why I entered this is because...I want to tell Pandora how much I like her and finally propose to her to be my girlfriend."

By the moment he told me, my heart just stopped beating in shock. "I knew you had been keeping a crush on her!" I whispered loudly, wearing a wide grin. "So, when did it all begin?"

"She's been my best friend since kindergarten and been a great friend to me. So as we grew up, I developed feelings towards her. She's never left my side for anyone else and I want it to be that way for as long as we live. For the past nine years, she's been with me both during hard and good times, and whenever I'm down she'd always find a way to cheer me up... Plus, we shared some precious memories together, and I want to keep making new ones with her.

I was surprised even more when he told me that this was for a special occasion. "The day the talent show is being held is supposed to be the tenth anniversary of the day we first met. We'd give something to each other to celebrate every year of our friendship. And this year, I wanna give her something really special. Something she'll never forget."

Tears of joy almost escaped my tear ducts. "What you just said was so sweet..." I commented.

"Just don't tell her that I entered. It's gonna be a surprise. But it's okay if she finds out that you and Flash do, she won't suspect a thing."

But the happy feeling was disrupted by a thought. "But, where do we find the time to practice?"

"Principle Stiffwhiskers said that all contestants are given a week off to practice for the show."

"But aren't we staying at Paris for this week?"

"That's the problem! Everything I had planned with Flash has been jeopardized when Uncle G announced that we'll be flying to Paris."

I stroked my chin for an idea. "I'll think of something. But first, I have to know what we...you! What you have planned with Flash and practice it for the first time so we get the basics."

"So, off to Flash's place?"

"Yeah, let's roll!"

We got back up and got out of the closet. I told the Thea Sister where we were headed and told them to stay put until the cars I lent them came. Down at the basement we buckled up inside Storm, and zoomed off to Flash's house.

* * *

**Flash's House, east New Mouse City**

**1125 hours**

After a half an hour drive across the city, we parked in front of Flash's home that situated near Rodent River. On the next street was where Grandpa Shortpaws lives, and on the other side of Rodent River is where Patty Springs (aka Petunia Pretty Paws in Geronimo's books) reside.

Flash's home was just a white, ordinary, but large two-story house like any other in the suburbs. He likes music, so he had his own soundproof recording studio where he records his song covers. It had bushes planted under the windows, and in the backyard was a huge tree that grew until we could see it from the front. A garage at the side of the house offered shelter for the family Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid, which is empty in most days because his father drives it to work.

Benjamin had rang Flash on the phone to inform that we were coming over. I was told that this day would be the first time we'd practice, so I might catch up on what they had in store for the talent show.

We marched to the front stoop of Flash's house, and rang the doorbell. As expected when also told that his parents were out, he was the one to answer the door. "Danno! Benjy! My bros!" Flash greeted at after swinging the door open. He gave us both a brohug and invited us inside.

Flash's appearance is like how any stereotypical jock would be; a little bit taller than me, in good shape, and blonde crew cut hair. He had grey fur, and wears a t-shirt with a pair of jeans when not at school.

"So, you told Danny what we were gonna do at the show?" he asked Benjamin while the door closed itself.

"Not yet. Thought that we would tell him before we practiced," answered Benjamin as we walked the hallways.

"In that case, let's go up into the studio," Flash suggested.

We climbed up a set of stairs to the second level and made a left into another hallway. The third door to the right is the recording studio, next to his bedroom. We entered it, seeing a bunch of instruments neatly organized. His drum set was at the corner, different guitars on their stands next to an amplifier, brass instruments mounted on the wall... And his DJ mixer complete with a synthesizer and a drum machine was placed next to the grand piano.

I shut the door behind me when we all got in. "So, did Benjamin tell you that this was for Pandora?" I asked Flash.

"He sure did! Little Benjy's growing up!" Flash pulled the shorter mice close and gave him a friendly noogie on the head. "I'm so proud of ya, lil' guy!"

"So, how are we gonna pull it off?"

They told me the whole plan, and I thought it was perfect when we got to the proposing part. "Sounds awesome!" I said. "But what's Benjamin here supposed to sing?"

"We talked yesterday, and decided that we picked a song that tells her how beautiful she is," Benjamin stated.

"What song will that be?" I questioned.

Flash came to my ear and whispered the song's title into it. "Dude! That's a great idea! Just imagine the reaction when she hears it!" I said.

"Then we better practice now and try to get it perfect for the first time," Benjamin proposed. "Because we only have this one day to practice."

"I thought we had a week before the talent show starts," Flash reminded.

"We do, but Interpol chose the Stilton Media Group to cover an event they're holding in France for a week starting this Monday," Benjamin informed.

"We take off tomorrow morning. So Benjamin and I both will be gone and can't make it to other practice sessions. But I'll think of something," I said.

"Very well, then," responded Flash.

I started to play a riff on the grand piano, then Flash started a rhythm on the drum machine as the second part of the intro. To end the intro, the intro chorus began with Flash playing a pre-recorded synth loop and and with him on the jingle keyboard, and the sweet melody was accompanied by Benjamin's singing, and it kept that way till we ended the song.

"That sounded good," I commented. "You hit that high C perfectly during the bridge and the ending there, Benjamin."

"Aw, thanks," he modestly replied. "How was my speech before the proposal?"

"It was deep, bro. Sounded like it came from your heart," Flash complimented.

"It did..." Benjamin replied. "Hope I'll be able to remember it for the talent show..."

"I'm sure you will..." I said to not make him fret.

We kept practiced the whole afternoon, and added some things that would make our performance look better.

* * *

**Five hours later**

**1930 hours**

It was five hours after our first practice. Said farewell to Flash before we left his house, then I dropped Benjamin back at Aunt Sweetfur's house so he could pack up for France in the morning.

I was about to let Storm drive me home until something came to my mind. I didn't get to catchup with Thea yet! Both of us have been busy with the practice sessions and the burning truck, so I thought that we deserved a little time to hang out each other. Maybe go out for coffee...Yeah! Coffee seems good... I thought.

So I decided to call her. "Storm, place a call on Thea's cellphone," I commanded.

"Dialing," Storm obeyed.

It was just a few beeps to get her to pick up. "Hello?" she began.

"Hey Thea," I replied.

"Danny! What's up?"

"Listen, we didn't really get the chance to catch up lately. Both of us being busy and all..."

"Oh yeah! We didn't, did we? Hmm...You know a good place where we can? Maybe to grab a drink while we talk?"

"Sure I do. It's somewhere in Cuisine Avenue. I'm sure you haven't heard of this place before."

"Oh really? What's it called?"

"I can't tell, it's a surprise."

"So be it..."

"I'll come pick you up. Where are ya?"

"Still at the Gazette. The three of us just got back from the truck fire."

"Great... I'll be in a green Lamborghini Hurácan. I'll see you there in half an hour."

"I'll be waiting..."

We hung up at the same time, then I commanded Storm to take me back to the Gazette.

* * *

**Cuisine Avenue, Downtown NMC**

**2010 hours**

We travelled down south about 3 miles from The Rodent's Gazette to Cuisine Avenue, where all the finest eateries in the city are situated. The one we were headed was themed. The Petrolheads' Café is an auto-themed café, known and visited by all of New Mouse City's racing fans, auto-enthusiasts and supercar owners (such as myself) alike, where we talk mostly about cars while enjoying coffee. It's became an attraction as the months went by, and the café was dazzled even more with newly added auto-themed decorations. Recently, they've acquired a a white racing suit worn and signed by the former Stig himself by BBC, and a V8 engine block from an old 70s Dodge Challenger to be recycled as a coffee table with a glass top.

As we drove further down the street, expensive fast cars like the Ford GT started to appear parked by the sidewalks a few doors down the café. "...I had him pinned against the lockers and warned him with a zap of Force Lightning. When I realized, I flew straight to California to consult Professor Philips the following morning," I explained what happened at school to Thea as Storm cruised along slowly on the road.

"And he said that you're a rare Jedi? One that possesses powers from both sides of the Force?"

"Precisely," I agreed.

Thea noticed the presence of supercars parked on both sides of the street. "A lot of fast cars are showing up. Something tells me we're here..." Thea squeaked, eying at the Nissan GT-R in red.

"We're here alright," I confirmed. Storm found a parking spot opposite of the café and parked himself. "Behold, The Petrolheads' Café. A coffee shop for petrolheads."

Thea spied through both windows of Storm's and the café's to see what was inside. "An auto-themed coffee shop. How come I've never heard of this place before?"

"See, I told ya that you've never heard if it," I proved my point to her, unbuckling the seatbelt. "C'mon, I wanna introduce you to the bartender. You'll like him."

"Okay then, if you say so..."

We got out and crossed the street to the café as Storm locked secured himself by locking his doors.

As a gentleman, I opened the door for Thea and let her go through first. I could see her face etched a mesmerized look as she gawked at the interior's decor while we strolled deeper into the café side by side.

"Where'd they find all these?" Thea wondered.

"Lots of auto events, and they're genuine," I explained.

Upon arriving at the coffee bar, we could see that the place wasn't too packed with mice. There were my two neighbors, Dominic and Bob, occupying the Mustang table together with Larry and his wife, Debra, and more other mice that I don't know on the other tables.

The coffee bar stools were not taken by any mouse, so we decided that we climb on two and have the whole bar to ourselves.

The rear wing of a BMW Z4 GT3 on display at the coffee bar was just on top of the desert's display beside Thea. "Is that spoiler genuine?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was pulled off from a wrecked Z4 GT3. This survived, but a chip on the wing made the car lose downforce. So the café owner met up with the team manager and had the wing sold to him for 400 bucks," I replied.

Then I noticed that the nightshift bartender and coffee brewer, Marco, wasn't at his post. I've been here for quite some time, so I knew how he acts. He was either using the bathroom again (he's a strong coffee drinker, to keep himself awake until his shift ends at 1 in the morning), or he was taking out the trash out back.

We waited for a while, and Thea took out her iPhone to answer a text from Geronimo.

The question was answered when he showed up from the door behind the bar next to the coffee mixer. "Oh, hey Dan! Sorry I disappeared, just clearing the trash at the back," said the 6-foot-5 mouse.

"I thought so," I said.

He wiped his paws on a towel. "So, what would you like to...is that Thea Stilton?"

Thea, still too busy to notice, I introduced her to Marco. "The one and only. Thea," I bumped her arm, taking her eyes off the screen.

"Hmm?" she responded.

"Meet Marco Rodenski. The café's bartender, and three-time New Mouse City Surfing Champion."

"Hey! Call me Marco," he introduced himself.

Deadpanned and staring at Marco long enough, she nervously answered. "I'm Thea Stilton...Call me Thea."

"So, what would you two like to have?" he offered.

"I'll have an iced doubled latte and a chocolate cheesecake for me, and...Thea?"

I could not believed that her eyes were still gazing monumentally at Marco in that way. Eyelids wide open and her jaw was hanging. It was somewhat striking love at first sight. "Thea? Thea...?" I snapped my fingers so she could get out of her 'hypnotism'.

"Wh...what?" she spluttered, looking around after waking up.

"You wanna order something?"

"Uh...ee...ee...yeah," she stuttered. "An iced double shot espresso with...a slice of Black Forest cake."

"Good choice, Black Forest is my favorite," he stated. "Iced double shot espresso and an iced double latte, coming up!" Before he started to brew our drinks, he slid the back door of the desert's display and took a slice of the cakes of our choices. He dropped them on plates and served them to us with a "Bon à petite", and stepped to the mixer.

Taking the spoon and about to dig in, I was intrigued how Thea reacted after catching a glimpse of the blonde, buff mouse. "Thea, you feeling okay?"

Without a response, she kept twirling spoon around her fingers while she propped her head up with her left arm, looking lovestruck as she stalked on Marco. "Thea!" I snapped.

The raise of tone almost made her jump off her seat. "Huh? What? What happened?" she mumbled.

"You haven't touched your cake yet. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm absolutely fine without a doubt."

"Are you sure you're fine? Because ever since Marco came through that door, you've been a little distracted."

Her eyes shifted left and right before coming close to my ear. "Okay, I'll tell you. But we need to move to another table so Marco doesn't hear," she said. "Tell him. We'll meet at the V8 table."

Before I could ask why (which was so obvious), she got off her stool and left me with her cake to explain to Marco about where we were going, without bringing along her cake. "Uh, hey Marco? Thea and I'll be at the V8 table. Our backs are killing us from chasing scoops all day and they need to rest." That was my own made-up excuse.

"Sure thing, I'll have your coffee delivered there," he informed.

I brought my cake to the V8 engine block table and sat down on the low easy chair. "So tell me what's going on with you," I demanded.

Leaning to the center of the table, she whispered; "Okay, but first, promise me not to tell anyone else."

"No worries, this is between us."

She took a deep breath and let it out. "I think I have a crush on Marco."

An enormous explosion occurred in my mind. "What?!" I said in scepticism, beginning to back off into my seat. "Are you serious?!"

"I'm not kidding with you, Danny."

I started to chuckle both in amusement and pride. "Oh boy, you crack me up."

"What's so funny?" she squeaked, having a hint of vexiation in her voice.

"Okay, first things first if someone tells me they have a crush on somebody. Why do like Marco?"

And...then she starts blabbering his physical appearance. "Have you seen his pecks?! They were like popping out of his shirt! And his arms, they looked like they can lift a car..." she described...just not in a way that shallow high school girls do. The Thea I know is a bit tomboyish.

I lifted an eyebrow. "Thea..."

"And did you see his angel blue eyes? They looked so beautiful...it's like staring at diamonds!"

"Thea..."

"And don't get me started on his hair..."

"Alright that's enough!" Clearing my throat, I (at least tried to) proceed with my next point. But, thinking back of what she said about having the crush...I laughed cynically.

"What now?!"

I (almost) cleared out the tickles of my emotions. "Nothing, it's just...it's just that you! Thea Stilton! Everywhere in the world you go, either male mice or men, they'll always be the one to have a crush on you, and you've rejected them all! Vince Guymouse, Hercule Poirat, even Bruce Hyena! What's the difference between Bruce and Marco?"

As I ate my cake, she states; "Bruce isn't as tall as Marco, and..."

Before any more words about Marco were said, I cut her off short with my mouth full of cheese and chocolate. "Ahhhh...that was a rhetorical question. And here's my next point, looks like the world is turning the tables on you. Now, it's you're the one who's falling in love with someone! Geronimo told me that you haven't had a crush on anyone ever since your junior year of high school. Ho ho ho, man, this is just too good to believe."

"Then better believe it, brother!" She took her spoon and shoveled Black Forest into her mouth.

"And there's one more question I forgot to ask," I started, "when are you gonna make the first move?"

"Why should I make the first move?"

"Because," I let my spoon down and sat back, "if you like a person especially at first sight, it doesn't always mean that the person or mouse you have a crush on will have the same feeling towards you back. Thus, they won't make the first move."

"If you put it that way..."

I saw Marco about to go out from behind the coffee bar with our beverages, and I alerted the rodent admiring him. "Ey, heads up. Marco's done with our drinks and he's headed here. Here's your chance. Don't waste it, and good luck."

"I'll try..."

He came out from from the staff door by the sound of it that came from behind me. "Incoming..." I alerted.

"Alright, guys. Here's your iced double latte and iced double shot espresso. Enjoy," he said after serving the drinks.

He was about to leave, until Thea stopped him. "Marco, wait!"

"What is it, Miss Stilton?" answered the well-mannered surfer.

"Erm..." Surprisingly all through all that white fur, Thea's cheeks flushed bright red. "Listen, it's my first time here, so I want to have a keepsake so I can remember who was with me. So, mind if I took a selfie with you?"

A chance to confess. Wasted. "Pfft..." I almost bursted into laughter.

"Not at all, let's do it!" Marco permitted.

"Hey, I was here too!" I interjected.

"Get over here then," she told, readying the front facing camera of her phone.

The three of us posed with the best faces we could show in the camera. All of us were told to smile, and Thea touched the shutter button with her thumb.

"Thanks for the selfie, Marco," said Thea.

"No prob," Marco replied.

"I'll tag you in Facebook!"

He said as he left; "Marco Rodenski, a surfboard as a profile pic."

When I thought that he was far beyond hearing range, I chuckled again. "What now?!" she rhetorically asked.

After containing myself, I told her; "You had a golden opportunity. And you wasted it...on a selfie-he-he-he-he-he!"

"Mark my squeaks, Danial Arif! I will make the first move!" she vowed, pointing a finger at me.

Then a coincidence fell upon us: some familiar faces entered the establishment. "Well, look who's here," I muttered. Thea and I both looked at the same direction.

The Thea Sisters were done taking an afternoon in the city, and decided to visit this place. Watching them grabbing a seat on the coffee bar, Marco attended them immediately. "Hope they don't..." I was cut short of my words. "Too late...Colette's starting to flirt with him. You think you can handle competition, Thea?"

She didn't say a thing, and simply shot me with a glare of annoyance.

"Thea Sisters!" I shouted to call them.

They turned back to notice, and waved. "Danny, Thea? What are you doing here?" Paulina asked.

"Just having coffee and cake with Thea. What a coincidence meeting you here," I replied.

Back at home after dropping off Thea at her house, I checked my Facebook notifications and was surprised that Thea posted the selfie on her timeline and tagged me and Marco to the photo. There was a caption, it read;

"I'm going to Paris tomorrow. But first, #LetMeTakeASelfie."

So I commented; "Hope ya don't miss the blonde guy too much ;) #MoreThanFriends"

I didn't have any idea that Thea was online. After I posted the comment, another one immediately popped up from Thea herself. She typed; "Ha ha...very funny."

I commented again; "#MakeAMove"

I left Facebook to gather what I was supposed to wear for tomorrow. I put the clothes on my dresser and then showered, followed by setting an alarm for 6 am then curled onto my bed and into my sheets to get a good night's rest.


	4. Chapter 4-We're In France!

**A/N: Hello readers and welcome back! I'm really sorry because I held this chapter back. You know, got real life stuff to take care off. But anyways, here's chapter three for you guys!**

**NOTE: Disclaimers from past chapters and stories will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**"We're In Paris!"**

_XxxxxxxxxxX_

**Angorat International Airport - Airfield**

**Sunday - March 22, 2014**

**0614 hours**

After showering and having a light breakfast, I took a drive in my Jaguar F-Type convertible to Angorat. The day started off bright with the sun still rising up from the east, and lens flare entered my eyes as I rode along. As expected, the terminals were lonely and quiet when I arrived, no traffic but a few cars at the departures and arrivals.

The road along the terminals were roofed and enclosed like a tunnel, and it was the road I needed to take to get to the airfield entrance gate. Because of me being a car guy, I love it when the roar of the engine bounces off tunnels.

I did realize that I was about to break a road safety law, but since the airport was like a ghost town and the coast was clear, I decided to speed along the length of the straight.

"Cougar, stop here," I ordered the Jaguar. He braked at the start of the tunnel, and I made my move.

I gripped on the steering wheel to disengage autopilot, with an alert message appearing on the holographic HUD. I placed a foot on the gas pedal, revving the V8 up and down. Launch control was on, so I shifted up and floored it, screeching a little and darted off like a rocket. The sprint was short though, just about 250 meters as I shifted up to the third gear. But the sound of the V8 revving at 7000 rpm echoing off the terminal walls was so sweet.

We were there at the gates. The guard on post came up to the window as I rolled it down, and asked for my identification and purpose. "I'm here for the private flight to Paris by Interpol," I announced.

"Oh, the Gulfstream that landed here yesterday. Ah was told about that, must be here to pick you up," he said. "Wait here, Ah'll open the gate."

I started to feel ecstatic when I heard the word 'Gulfstream'. A Gulfstream is a luxurious private business jet which I myself have never boarded before.

He pushed the gate open, and I drove to the guard again when he moved to the left side. "Excuse me, did you just say 'Gulfstream'?"

"Indeed ah did," he replied, holding on to his belt. "You seemed surprised. You've never been on a Gulfstream before, son?"

"As a matter of fact, no."

"Strange. Thought you being rich and all would be flyin' in one of these things to and off the island."

"Have you?"

He approached close to the window. "Ah was part of the MISS back in the 80's," he whispered. "Used to protect foreign ministers while flyin' in one of these."

"You worked for the Mouse Island Secret Service?"

"Yes ah did...Ah'm just gonna leave ya a heads up. When you board a Gulfstream, you'll never want to get back out."

"Thanks."

"Your welcome. Now, the jet's just at the third hangar next to the far side of the terminal. You'll see your friends waiting there."

"Thanks again!"

With a tip of his hat, I drove away and into the airfield. I sped along the tarmac again just like I did in the tunnel, lasting only for 5 seconds until I hit the brakes.

I saw a sight of Thea and her students by Thea's Bugatti Veyron Vitesse and an Aston Martin Rapide next to the Gulfstream G650, waiting for me, Geronimo and the others to arrive. There was a fuel truck on the other side of the jet, with an attendant handling the kerosene.

I pulled over and parked in front of the group, shutting down the engine afterwards. Their eyes followed me getting out and taking a walk to the trunk. "Good morning, girls!" I greeted as I flipped the trunk open.

Paulina, leaning against the door of the Aston Martin yawned and put on on a faint smile. "Hola, Danno," she replied in her native language tiredly. I've never seen her or the other four

looking so sleepy. Even their tails weren't held up.

I got my carry on out and brought it to the front, not forgetting to close the trunk lid. I took a seat on Cougar's hood, checking out the Thea Sisters' sleepy faces. I could tell that they did not sleep well. "Thea Sisters, did you get enough sleep last night? You girls look horrible."

"Not really," Thea answered on behalf. "I heard them come back at twelve a.m. sharp when the W16s and a V8 woke me up. What were you five doing up and out so late?" she asked, turning to her students.

"We were at The Petrolheads' Café," said Pamela with a yawn. "We got lost in time. The other four couldn't stop flirting with the bartender, Marco."

I almost broke into a laugh, with Thea having red cheeks. "What's so funny, Danny?" Nicky said as she peered forward from behind her friends.

"Nothing..." I told, trying to hold back as much as I can.

"Thanks for asking about us, by the way. And for the Rapide," Violet thanked.

"Your welcome," I replied. Yes, the Aston was mine. His name is Luxor.

Not a moment too soon, the thundering of another powerful car came closer at our direction. I turned around, seeing a black Cadillac CTS-V Sedan cruising on the tarmac. It parked by our group next to my Jaguar. All four doors flung open and reveals the car's passengers, who were Geronimo, Trap, Benjamin, and Pandora.

"Hello, everyone," said Geronimo with a bright smile. He and the rest went to the back and he popped the trunk open.

"Did you sleep well, G?" I asked.

"Luckily," he stated, getting his luggage. "But I'm still tired though. Speaking of which, looks like the Thea Sisters didn't."

"You can say that again," Thea interrupted.

"Say G," I began, "you didn't tell me we were going in a Gulfstream. Is this another surprise?"

He chuckled before he squeaked. "On the contrary, this was a surprise from the General Secretariat. I myself was informed about this when he called me to tell me about it when were were on our way here."

Everyone finished gathering their bags out. "Anyway, is everyone ready?" he exclaimed, slamming the trunk lid shut.

With a yes from everybody, we dropped off our luggage in the cargo bay and then boarded the private jet. We were in the sky minutes later after taking off, heading for our destination, France.

* * *

**41,000 ft above Pacific Ocean**

**0715 hours - 1 hour after takeoff**

I was sitting at the seat by the window, looking out at the sky above the clouds. On the table in front of me was a glass of iced lemonade, sipping drop by drop out of a straw as I enjoyed the view. Unbelievably, Geronimo was sitting with me while the Thea Sisters, Pandora and Trap catching some extra Zs on the couches and other seats. We were facing each other, as he too was enjoying the scenery of the sky, but drank a mug of coffee instead to train himself to be awake in mornings. (Hopefully that works.)

"I've always wanted to fly in one of these..." I stated, looking out the window.

"You don't say..." Geronimo replied, having to hide the trembling in his squeak.

"Did you just tremble, Geronimo?" I asked after noticing.

"I don't know. Did I?" he trembled again.

"You did. Are you scared?"

"I am." He picked up his mug of coffee and chugged some of it down quickly. But when he lifted it up and put it close to his mouth, his paw was shaking.

"Of what?"

Geronimo then nervously puts the mug back in the table. "You forgot that I mentioned in my books about how much afraid I was of flying?"

"Oh...then how come you're looking out the window?"

"An Interpol agent must be brave. That's why I'm trying to face my fears as hard as I can...even if it kills me...okay I take it back! I don't want to die!"

"Well, good luck with that, I guess. Oh, almost forgot to ask you something. You got your doggie bag?"

"Always," he said, tapping at the side of his seat.

I looked into my glass, seeing only chunks of ice left inside. "I'm going to get more lemonade if you don't mind," I informed Geronimo.

"Be my guest..." he replied with nervousness.

I lifted myself off my seat and walked to the kitchen at the back of the cabin. The fridge was just opposite of the bathroom, where Benjamin dissapeared to a few minutes ago. I placed my glass on the counter, then opened the fridge door and brought out a pitcher of lemonade. I poured some into my glass, then placed the pitcher back in the cold fridge. I was about to close the door when I was pulled from behind by the collar of my shirt, into the bathroom.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed.

The mouse who pulled me in was none other than Benjamin. He shut the door with his other paw and locked it. I ALMOST fell backwards on the closed toilet seat.

"Dude! What the heck!" I whispered loudly.

"Shhh!" He looked behind to see if anyone heard, then turned back. "First, I'm sorry I did that. Second, I gotta talk to you. Have you hatched a backup plan yet?"

"For the talent show practice? Yeah, I came up with it when I was on the way to the airport."

His face turned serious with a smile. "Great, let's hear it," he said eagerly.

"But there's one more thing," I halted. "Did Geronimo tell you about where we would be staying?"

"Yeah, I asked him about that. We'll be staying at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris. It's just 0.6 kilometers from where the fashion event will be held, under the Eiffel Tower."

"Hmm... Okay, I have a mansion estate two kilometers southwest of Paris. It has a music studio equipped with an LCD screen that we could use to contact and video call Flash. It's underground, completely soundproof, so we could practice while on the line."

"Where do we find the time to practice?"

"What time does the event start at?"

"Eight to ten in the evening."

"We can practice at four in the afternoon till six. Paris is about six hours ahead from New Mouse City, so Flash will practice with us from 10 to 12 back at home. Don't worry about people wondering where we'll be, the estate's got a lot of stuff for them to get distracted with."

"Awesome. But how are you gonna convince Uncle G to switch our place to stay at?"

It took me a moment to think of one, but all of a sudden, I had a light bulb lighting up in my mind. "I have an idea... But I need you out of the bathroom first."

"Why's that?"

"The lemonade I drank filled up my bladder, so I really need to pee."

"Oh! Sorry! I'll be heading out..."

Upon opening the door, he stumbled upon Thea who waited outside the bathroom leaning against the fridge while having her arms crossed (probably to use it). Meanwhile, I closed the door to proceed with my private 'business'.

But here's what I heard from inside and from what Benjamin told me. "What have you two been doing in there?" asked Thea to his nephew.

"How much have you heard?" Benjamin asked her back.

She looked the other way to recall. "Something about a talent show and you two rehearsing for it..."

"Don't tell Pandora. It's supposed to be a surprise for her," he whispered.

"Surprise?"

He looked at sleeping Pandora to make sure she wasn't awake when he said; "I'm finally proposing to her to be my girlfriend."

Thea gasped out of shock and excitement. "Benjamin! I'm so proud of you! You're growing up!" She continued by pinching his cheeks. He disliked being treated like a mouseling, but he loves it when his uncle or aunt does that.

"Make sure that doesn't slip out in front of her. It's okay for everyone else, just don't let them tell her. Alright?"

"My lips are sealed to Pandora..."

"Thanks, Aunt Thea."

* * *

After a while in the bathroom, I got back to my seat with the lemonade. "I'm back," I said to Geronimo. "So, Benjamin and I talked."

"What about?" he asked, still having some issues with flying.

"He told me that we were staying at Shangri-La Paris. I'm here to talk to you about changing our accommodation location."

"Change? Interpol's sponsoring it, why change?"

Here comes my excuse. "You do know that Paris is a place where it's _really_ hard to find halal food?"

"Great Gouda, I forgot that you were a Muslim..." He stroked his chin while being lost in thought. "What place do you have in mind?"

"I own a large estate just two kilometers southwest off Paris. Maybe we could stay there? I've got plenty of food stashed." I was really hoping that he'd permit.

"Really? Then we'll stay there if it keeps you from starving," he agreed.

I shook my fist as a sign of victory. "Yes!" I mumbled to myself. "I'll have some of my cars to pick us up."

"Good idea, since we have no transport other than our news van used for broadcasting."

I contacted J-Son back at home. "J-Son, time to change to your French profile. I need you to tell three of the Bugatti Siblings and Rembrandt to switch to their French profiles, as well as the other cars. I need them in France."

"Which one sir? The one two kilometers outside Paris?" J-Son quickly responded.

"Affirmative."

"Yes, sir. What do yo want them to do?"

"In seven hours, tell them to get to Charles de Gaulle Airport, wait outside Airfield Gate 1 to pick us up and take us back to the estate."

"Orders received and understood," he said before ending the transmission.

In the background at the kitchen, I signaled a thumbs up to Benjamin to tell him that everything was according to plan.

* * *

**Charles de Gaulle Airport - Paris, France **

**1958 hours (UTC+01:00)**

We've landed in our destination, Paris after a 7 hour flight across the Pacific Ocean. Gladly enough, Geronimo almost puked all over the Gulfstream's carpet but he swallowed it back down (I know, it was almost gross). Anyway, it was nearly dusk all over France. The French sky above us turned red as the sun floated above the west horizon. All of us had to step off and say goodbye to the Gulfstream and walked de Gaulle's airfield while pulling the carry ons behind us to the exit gate, where our rides home were supposed to be at the other side.

We were extremely jet lagged, but the pilot was so kind enough to park the plane at a hangar just a hundred meters from the airfield gates.

"I'd just like to say to everyone that we'll not be staying at Hotel Shangri-La like I mentioned before we arrived here," Geronimo informed, at the head of the pack.

That made Colette pose a question. "And why is zat, Geronimo?"

"We've got some issues with food. I totally forgot that Danny here can only eat halal food, so he suggested that we change our place of accommodation."

"Where do we stay, then?" asked Trap.

"He told me he owns an estate two kilometers outside Paris. I informed the Secretary General that we'd switch so the agency wouldn't waste any money."

"That was a good move," I commented.

"So, what's picking us up to your estate, Danny?" asked Pamela.

"We'll know when we go through those gates..."

About 50 meters later, we reached the gates with everyone getting all exited and worked up over what was going to surprise them.

We crossed the border where the airfield separated from the public road at the gates. "Holy Swiss Cheese!" Pamela exclaimed as the rest of the Thea Sisters gasped.

Because what were parked by the sidewalk were the four cars that I had ordered to pick us up: three of the Bugatti Siblings; Pierre, Diane and Colette. The fourth was Rembrandt, a white 2014 Bentley Flying Spur. Rembrandt was parked in the front of the rest.

"This is Rembrandt," I introduced to the Thea Sisters. "He's a 2014 Bentley Flying Spur. He's yours for now."

The Thea Sisters circled Rembrandt. "What's he packing under the hood?" asked Pam, strolling around and admiring the magnificent machine.

I explained his performance stats as we stuffed the Bugatti Siblings' baggage compartments with our luggage. "A six-liter, 1050 horsepower quad-turbo W12 engine. He weighs only 1900 kilograms through extensive use of carbon fiber on the chassis, body panels, and engine parts...he can do 258 miles an hour and a zero-to-sixty acceleration in 2.9 seconds."

"Good evening, Thea Sisters," greeted the smart autonomous Bentley. "You may put your luggage in the boot, and hop inside me so I can take you to the estate." He popped open the trunk lid and the five young rodents dropped their bags in.

We hopped in our vehicles that captured attention from passing drivers and pedestrians walking by our cars. Slowly driving away to give them an opportunity to take pictures and record videos, we made our way to the estate.

* * *

We made 21 out of 32 kilometers after cruising the French streets for 25 minutes. While on the drive, I turned on some French music so I could have an extra feel of being in Paris. (Yes, I can understand and speak French.) Traffic was packed, especially in narrow streets and the roundabouts, so we made sure we stayed at the most outer lane so we could exit easier. At every stoplight we halted at, there _will_ be people swarming our convoy and there will always be Parisians knocking on our windows every time we stopped by a sidewalk, saying "_C'est_ _magnifique_!" as a comment.

We entered the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe when I said over our cars' comlinks: "Being here reminds me of how I love France."

"Why is zat, _mon ami?" _Colette queried.

We took the exit that lead us to the Eiffel Tower. "It's home to the things I love. Bugatti manufactures the Veyron in Molsheim, Alsace...it's home to Interpol...FIFA...the FIA (_Fédération International d'Automobile_)...and Circuit de La Sarthe. And the _24 Heures du Mans _takes place here every year."

"Don't forget food and fashion, Paris is one of the world capitals," Geronimo added.

We crossed the bridge over the river Seine, and caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower being illuminated by the lights at the bottom of its legs, shone to the top. We could also see under it that the runway for the competition has been set up, along with the spectators' chairs and the commentator booth.

"I just can't believe it...we're in Paris!" Pandora squeaked excitedly, getting a better look of the tower through the glass targa top roof and windows inside (Bugatti)Colette as Trap drove her.

"Me neither...it's my first time being in France," Benjamin stated.

Our convoy passed La Tour Eiffel. "It has been months since I have been here at home," said Colette. "I just cannot wait to see Julie again! I haven't seen her since I returned for Christmas."

"But it's only been three months," I said.

"I know, but it already feels like another year has gone!"

"It's like that the both of you are sisters," said Geronimo.

"I get that a lot, and I do agree. It is like we are sisters from a different mother. And I forgot to mention zat I promised to see her under ze Eiffel Tower to check out ze venue...gasp! _Sacré bleu_!"

"What's wrong Colette?" Paulina concerned asked.

"I promised Julie that I'd meet her at ze Eiffel Tower!"

"When?" Thea questioned.

"Tonight! I told her zat I'd meet at ze night we landed! We have to go back!"

"Crew, looks like we're turning this convoy around!" I announced.

All the drivers stopped at the side of Quai Brainly and when the coast was clear, we executed u-turns and headed back for the Eiffel Tower.

* * *

**Eiffel Tower **

We parked our cars at the spaces on the shoulder of the road and got out and made our way to under the 324-meter structure.

We were at the backstage of the catwalk. Apparently, everything was set up facing the river. From there, we heard some people talking at other side, both women, discussing about something.

"Zat one female voice sound very familiar..." Colette with her breath.

"Let's check it out," Violet suggested.

We peeked from both sides of the stage's backdrop. Although being a women's focused event, I saw no sign of pink anywhere. Just white chairs, and a long catwalk that tiled of white lightpads. Standing on the catwalk were two people, a woman and a blonde, short-haired rodent.

Colette with her instinct identified the blonde rodent in an instant. "Julie!" she shouted out.

Julie in response turned around to Colette's direction as she revealed herself from behind the backdrop. "Colette!" Julie called.

Julie leaped off the catwalk and jogged around the arranged chairs while Colette waited at the side for her best friend with her arms open.

As the rest of the Thea Sisters came out from behind the backdrop, they both engaged in a friendly hug, smacking each other's cheeks. "Oh, how I have missed you so much!" Julie exclaimed, beaming as she caught Colette in her arms.

"Likewise, my friend!" answered Colette.

They let go when Julie spotted the Thea Sisters. "Mouselets!" she exclaimed again.

The both reunited, and soon, the whole area was echoing the happy squeaks and smacks from their kisses. "When did you all land here?" asked Julie.

"Just half an hour ago," Nicky answered.

"Did you all fly here by yourselves?"

"Not really, we flew in with the media crew that's going to broadcast the event worldwide!" Pamela interrupted.

We thought that it was our cue, so we revealed ourselves to her from where the Thea Sisters did. From the sounds of our footsteps, they all looked back. "Ah...You must be The Rodent's Gazette crew, no?" she identified us as she stepped a little bit forward.

"_Oui_, and _Bonsior, madame_," Geronimo greeted in French. "We are pleased to make your acquaintance. This is my sister, Thea as you may know," she waved hi, "my cousin, Trap, my human stepbrother, the well-known Danial Arif," I help up a piece sign, "and my nephew and his best friend, Benjamin and Pandora."

"Yes, I do know all of you," she said. "Colette has told me stories about you and your adventures together, including your adventures as a family of Interpol agents which is really hard to believe..."

Geronimo chuckled. "Well, believe it or not, we take down criminals as a family and hunt down scoops as a family..."

"Ze one about ze McCarran Disaster made me intrigued ze most. Did ze children get involved as well in zat time?"

Benjamin squeaked up. "At first, Pandora and I were involved as junior agents. Danny here was supposed to be protected by our team before what happened at McCarran Airport. Then he joined our team after everything was back to normal."

Julie then directs a question to me. "Besides being a video game developer, I understand from Colette zat you are a cyborg, _Monsieur_ Arif?"

I placed a finger on my lips to signal her to not reveal my secret. "And 'Danny' would be just fine, _mademoiselle."_

Then I noticed the person on the catwalk just watching us from up there. "Who's that?" I asked.

We all turned to her. "Oh, zat is my one of my models, Claudia Dubois," Julie introduced as Claudia waved by fluttering her fingers. She was human, blonde as Julie was, slim and curved like Thea, and she wore a bun on her head. She had cheekbones on her face, had light blue eyes, and wore bright red lipstick. At the moment, she was wearing a black leather jacket over a blue neck sweater, black skintight leather trousers and high heals for footwear. "She will be presenting ze combat uniforms I designed."

"We all really hope that you'd win this competition, Julie," Thea wished.

"Me too, but I couldn't have known about it if it weren't for Colette!" Julie thanked, gesturing to her friend. Colette could only smile proudly. "She introduced me to this new branch of the fashion industry and gave me tips about it, and I will accept ze challenge of creating my first line of combat wear!" she said with determination.

"Zis will be such fun, will it not?" said Colette.

Geronimo checked his watch as the sun touched the horizon. "Looks like it's getting late. We better head to the estate if we ought to wake up in the early morning. We've got plenty of things to do here for tomorrow."

"Until ze next day, Colette?" Julie said.

"I will see you tomorrow," she responded.

The Thea Sisters and Julie hugged each other goodbye, and she and Claudia watched us leave as they waved. "_Au revoir_!"

We left the Eiffel Tower and followed the road that we took in our cars, and continued our journey to the estate.

* * *

_**Château de l'Arif, **_**2 KM southwest of Paris**

**2058 hours**

We had arrived at the estate 15 minutes later, and drove up to the large and tall gates, the only entrance to the 20-acre property defended by hidden popup turrets and surrounded by four tall walls complete with an electric fence. There was an artistic metal gateway above with a shield and the initials 'DA' etched on its face. We entered when the metal gates open, and continued on the gravel road.

At night, the six tall hedge trees planted by each side the road were glowed by spotlights from underneath its bottom leaves. At both sides of the road were also just two flat pieces of yard for anyone to do anything on. "Oh-la-la..." Colette muttered despite still being audible to the mic, mesmerized while admiring my home.

"I can still remember how amazing your secret retreat was before you blew it up back at DC, but not as amazing as this," Thea commented, looking at the architecture as we cruised sluggishly on the gravel.

And do you remember when we took refuge at my secret retreat from our old enemies, The Technologists? It was an option of relocation when an assault team of them launched a full out attack against my home back at Malaysia when it was swarming by armed Interpol guards and snipers. They tracked me down anyway when my backstabbing best friend, Firas bugged me with a tracking device, and I had to blow up the retreat so all the secrets kept there **remained** a secret.

"Well, I think this place will make all of you have second thoughts about the retreat," I theorized.

The gravel road ended at the front stoop, and just two-car lengths away was an illuminated disappearing water fountain that spout up jets of water 20 meters into the air. It formed the roundabout that connected the road to the gates, and to the one that lead to the garage entrance.

Our four cars came to a halt to drop us off at the porch when the fountain started shooting water into the air. "Home sweet home," I said while getting my luggage out from the front.

"I can't wait to see what's inside!" said Benjamin eagerly, standing in front of Diane with his uncle.

"Hope there's cheese, because I'm hungry," Trap squeaked.

"Plenty, just don't get overstuffed," I warned.

After everyone finished unloading their bags, we thanked the cars and watched them drive themselves back to the underground garage, then I invited everyone into the château. The wooden doors were protected and secured with an iris scanner, and a hidden thumbprint scanner. The iris scanner panel was on the door itself, so I let it identify my iris pattern when I placed my eye in front of it.

The green light flashed, meaning that the first lock was deactivated. Then, I got a grip on the handle where the thumbprint scanner was, and it un-jammed the door's tumblers so that everyone could enter.

There was a slight cold breeze blowing from inside when I opened just a crack because of the air conditioning. Pandora who was trailing behind me felt a bit of it. "Brr...feels like a winter wonderland in there..." she said, hugging her own body.

"Yeah," Benjamin agreed. "I'm already frozen from the tip of my whiskers to the tip of my tail!"

"We don't have whiskers, Benjamin," stated Thea factually and ironically.

"Oh yeah, that's right! I forgot..."

I decided to go back to the topic. "Anyway, everybody brace yourselves because your hearts may stop beating when you see what's inside..."

I went in first so I could welcome them once they were in. And when they did, these were their reactions:

"Wow!" the mouselings reacted, awed.

"Great Gouda!" Geronimo exclaimed.

"Whoa..." Thea murmured.

"Oh...my...gosh," Trap said.

"Holey dooley!" Nicky shouted where the rest of the Thea Sisters just gawked and froze in place.

"Welcome to _Château de l'Arif!" _I said_._

How I would describe the interior upon entrance that it was all white; the walls, the columns and pillars that decorated every doorway, even the floor was made of white marble. The only thing that wasn't was the cornices on the ceiling, they were coated in gold-colored paint. A chandelier made of diamonds hung over our heads as the jewels absorbed the orange light from the fluorescent bulb at its core while it's gold-coated steel frame held everything together.

In front of us was a marble staircase with two separate bases, split at the middle big enough for a person to fit through if he or she is lazy enough to walk around it. The railing was also lightly gold-coated, from bottom to top. The stairs would take us to the guest rooms at the upper level, but they weren't enclosed to form halls. Instead, there were indoor balconies guarded with railings that overlooked the huge living room.

We strode around the set of stairs and went through a wide doorway to the living room. There was another set of stairs similar to the first one, and they're both connected for easy access to the upper floor from the living room.

"_Incroyable..." _Colette described when we all entered the living room.

The living room was mediocre for a mansion (I'm not being modest): a brick fireplace built in the wall, some knick knacks and photos on the corniced mantle, and a 70-inch flatscreen smart TV mounted above the mantle. Besides that, the lounge was sunken a bit into the ground. There was an aquarium built into the floor, covered by a layer of reinforced glass. Around it were three red leather lounge sofas arranged to face the TV and at the center was a large coffee table. Above it all was the same styled chandelier to enlighten the mansion at nights.

As my guests continued to follow behind me, I stopped and deeply breathed in the cold air and sighed it out. Out of the blue for them, I left my carry on and sprinted to the living room, vaulted over the couch, landing on it and sat back to relax.

"Oh, how I've missed you, my chateau..." I said.

"Seems that you haven't been here in a while," Paulina pointed out.

"True... You guys can join me or settle in first. Guest rooms are upstairs, just pick one that suits you best."

The girls chose to get to their own rooms while the men decided to take a load off and joined me to get rid of the jet lag, while enjoying an episode of Top Gear. After everyone had bathed and refreshed, we had dinner at the kitchen where the menu was Edam, aged to perfection. Not long after that, it was bedtime for next morning's second practice session (Benjamin told Flash over a video call) and to pickup the news van Interpol shipped from New Mouse City for the broadcast the following night.


	5. Chapter 5-First Things First

**A/N:** **What's up everyone? Malaysianpro back after a month with another chapter! First of all, I'm really sorry for keeping the story on hold, it seems like my life has caught up to me with a Semester Test. So, I wasn't free to write but I did anyway (hope my grades are good). But, I'm free now! So, enjoy the chapter and Happy**** late Mother's Day.**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters and stories will be applied here. **

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**First Things First...**

I travelled to the UK, straight to a cottage in a village outside of London. I walked the sidewalk and entered the yard though a small wooden gate. With me were pieces of large cards which I've drawn something on, and a mini boombox. I set it on the table outside, then hit the play button.

**(Violin Intro)**

**I was a foolish little child,**

**Crazy things I used to do,**

**And all the pain I put you through,**

**Mama now I'm here for you...**

**For all the times I made you cry...**

**The days I told you lies,**

**Now it's time for you to rise,**

**For all the things you sacrificed...**

**[Chorus:]**

**Oh, if I could turn back time rewind,**

**If I could make it undone,**

**I swear that I would-**

**-I would make it up to you**

**Mum I'm grown up now**

**It's a brand new day**

**I'd like to put a smile on your face every day**

**Mum I'm grown up now**

**And it's not too late**

**I'd like to put a smile on your face every day**

**You know you are the number one for me.. [x3]**

**Oh, oh, number one for me **

**You know you are the number one for me.. [x3]**

**Oh, oh, number one for me **

**There's no one in this world that can take your place...**

**Oh, I'm sorry for ever taking you for granted, ooh...**

**I...will use every chance I get,**

**To make you smile, whenever I'm around you...**

**Now I will always love you like you loved me!**

**Only God knows how much you mean to me...**

The resident inside was none other than my beloved mother. She came out on the balcony when she heard me from outside.

**[Chorus]**

**(Waves) Oh, if I could turn back time rewind,**

**If I could make it undone,**

**I swear that I would-**

**-I would make it up to you**

**(Shows card written: I'm grown up) Mum I'm grown up now,**

**It's a brand new day...**

**(Shows card with smiley emoticon) I'd like to put a smile on your face every day... **

**Mum I'm grown up now...**

**(Shows card written: Not to late) And it's not too late, **

**I'd like to put a smile on your face every day...**

**(Shows cars written: #1) ...The number one for me... [x3]**

**Oh, oh, number one for me...**

She went back in, then showed up at the front door seconds later. "My son! You've grown up!" she began.

"I love you, mom..." I expressed.

"I love you two, son..."

We hugged each other tight, until the beeping had woken me up.

I was back in my dark room at the Chateau, jolting up from my bed. I looked around to where the beeping came from which was my clock, with the alarm set to 4.30 am. Then I realized...

All of it was just a dream.

"No, no, no, no!" I panicked, I was enjoying the dream so much I wish I had it again if I fall back asleep. But my knowledge of that wouldn't happen made me do otherwise.

I just wish I could see her again. But alas, I couldn't do anything about her passing.

I was again devastated, curling up and letting the tears stream out for several minutes.

* * *

**Monday - March 23, 2014**

**0819 hours - Approx. 12 hours till event**

**Thea's Perspective**

I woke up at the right side of the bed, hoping to start the new day fresh and hoped all will go well at the night's event. I got showered in warm water, dressed in a cozy pink sweater rather than my usual black jacket and pink collared tee because the temperature in the indoors dropped below 20 degrees Celsius.

I stepped out of my room. From the balcony, I could see half of the counter in the kitchen space opposite of where I was. No one was there, just plates of omelets and croissants with a glass of orange juice on the countertop lit up by small orange dining lamps above. I wondered who could have served them? Then I had an idea who it was.

I climbed down the stairs to reveal the inner half of the kitchen to my eyes, hoping to find someone there. And as I took my final step down, I concluded that my guess was correct. Danny was there sitting at the counter, slowly savoring his croissant and omelette (which he probably cooked) while locking his vision on an iPad in front of him, equipped with a red Smart Cover and casing in its stand mode. He looked happy and calm somehow.

Before I could even say good morning to him, he already noticed me and beat me to it. "_Bonjour_, Thea," he greeted in French, not turning to look.

"I was just about to say the same thing..." I said, approaching him. I got to the kitchen and asked: "When did you get up?"

"Four-thirty a.m., two hours early than usual."

Surprised, my walk halted. "That early?"

"You know how it is...I wouldn't want to miss my morning prayers..." I understood why he does it every morning; he was fulfilling his obligations as a Muslim.

"And you didn't go back to bed after?"

"It's a sunnah to be awake after that, you know? If you practice it everyday, you'll get used to it."

He continued to stare at his iPad while sipping a little of his orange juice. "Come, sit down!" he offered, patting on the stool next to him. "I baked croissants and made cheese omelets for you and the rest with fresh orange juice."

I accepted his offer, and sat down beside him. As before, I noted him in a cheerful state. "What's on the iPad?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm just," he pulled the iPad to the center to share it with me, "...swiping through photos of me and my family I stored across devices via iCloud, reliving the moments captured. It helps me cool down in stressful times, especially."

"Do you still feel down? You know, no offense, but...with them being gone?"

"Not really...I accept what God has destined for me." He took a deep breath and continued. "You know...when I look at these pictures...I don't remind myself of how it felt; the pain of losing them in such a surprising and harsh way. Or at least I try to, heh... Instead, like I said, these pictures tell a story. Like this one..." he swiped the screen to show a photo of him and his mother at the kitchen. Danny was mixing a bowl of batter while his mother pulled out a tray of cookies out of the oven. "This was on the seventeenth of March, 2011, a Thursday. I just close my eyes and replay what happened that day from my viewable memory and remind myself of how happy that day was..." And so he closed his eyes and told me as his memories came rolling back like a movie, frame by frame. "I just came back from school...dad was off to work and Sarah was in her room. 'Lets bake some cookies!' she said. So I followed her to the kitchen and took out all the ingredients...then we started mixing it all in a bowl together and poured the batter in a on a tray. After an hour in the oven, we took it out, tasted it...and she said: "Son, this is delicious. Great job...'"

He opened his eyes and swiped a finger on the screen to show me another photo. This time, it was him and his dad in the garage, covered in grease near their Porsche Panamera. "This one was a on a Saturday, April 23," said Danny. Then he let his eyelids down, and started remembering. "My dad came home with a set of new 20-inch sport rims for the Panamera. He invited me to join him to change the stock ones, so I did. I helped lift the car with the car jack while he unscrewed the lug nuts, and I took the rims off and installed the new ones, and he'd screw them back in. We did all fours in two hours, and he said to me: "Well done, son. You did a great job...'"

He reopened those eyes and gazed at the photo for a moment and wore a smile. "When they were killed in that explosion, I couldn't even look at these for six months," he started. "There was so much pain, depression, confusion...after that period, I took a look at a photo or two. Those times we had were so sweet, I just wished that I could have more of them. I cried every time I look back at these or even think about them."

"I lived my life after that in angst, trying to hide my feelings in public during my appearances in conferences. At home, I spent an hour a week mourning, and when I'm not in a good mood in the office when I developed Fields Of Battle 2, I'd scold my staff if something wasn't done right. But over the months, I went over it, I guess. The darkness was finally lit, and that's when you guys showed up, adding a little more spark. But all those dark clouds came back, bring along hatred and anger when Geronimo told me that my family was killed by a terrorist leader. Back at McCarran when we tried to save Geronimo from Williams, you died from a gunshot wound after I failed to use Force Heal on you. Williams and I had a lightsaber duel, and he reminded me that I wasn't letting go of my dark past and my side of the fight was all about revenge. He was right...I wasn't ready to let go of past and move on. And now with God's permission, He brought you back to life when I defeated him. I let go of what happened, and started fresh with my new family."

I can only smirk and quoted: "Like a man once said; what's behind us doesn't matter."

And as predicted, he knew very well who's words I quoted. "The words of Enzo Ferrari himself..."

And then this question came up to the conversation. "So, do you miss Marco yet?" he wondered.

Though I wasn't annoyed this time. "Well...maybe just a little."

Suddenly, all the doors from upstairs opened up and out came their residents, all fresh in new clothes, looking cheerful. They looked over the balcony to find out what smelled so good.

Colette gasped in surprise when she got to the bottom of the stairs first. "Croissants and cheese omelette? Who could have cooked zis?"

"Good morning! Come eat, I made y'all this so we could have the energy to last the whole day. We've got a lot stuff to do today for tonight!" Danny invited.

And so we dug in when everybody was the table, and finished the breakfast until every last bite.

* * *

**My Perspective **

After finishing breakfast, we got down to business for the night's event. While the three of us teenagers went to type up the lines on the teleprompter in the living room on our own laptops (we sat individually on our own couches), the Thea Sisters along with their teacher went to pick what clothes to wear from their wardrobe for their appearance on international TV. Geronimo on the other hand, isolated himself in his room to practice his lines that he told us to write.

"And...I'm done!" Benjamin declared, tapping the last letter of the word on his keyboard.

"Done!" I announced.

"_Fin_!" Pandora said.

"That was a lot, I just wished I could type the whole thing with my chip," I told.

"So why didn't you? I thought you could control electronics with it," Pandora reminded.

"I just didn't want to. Now I realized how hard life is without the chip..."

Out came Thea and her students from Thea's room. It looked like they were done picking their outfits. "Done choosing your clothes?" I asked.

"We have, and we hope it suits the event," said Paulina. "Done with the lines?"

"Just," replied Benjamin, stretching back. "We also made a competition. We've rephrased the lines Uncle G gave us and whoever between us gets their lines chosen, wins."

"Why did you have to make it a competition?" asked Thea, curious.

"We just got our English test results on Wednesday, the three of us got A pluses," answered Pandora.

"Impressive..." Violet commented.

They all came and sat down "So Colette, I heard the designers have a whole afternoon to design their tactical gear," I reminded to reconfirm.

"Yes, zhey are," she said. "Zhey are isolated in zheir own rooms so zhey cannot get any tips from anyone or copy off of other competitors' designs."

"Good thing you gave her some before she went on with the competition, eh?" Pamela stated.

"Indeed..."

Geronimo was next to come out of his room as he said: "Come on, Danny. The General Secretariat called. We are to pick up our news van, it just flew in from New Mouse City."

"It's here? That was quick," I responded. "Charles de Gaulle?"

"That's where we're headed," he said.

"Well guys, gotta run!" I said to the group.

"I'll see ya at four, Dan! May the Force be with you!" Benjamin squeaked.

"You too, Benjy!"

I caught up with Geronimo that scaled down the stairs at the other side. "What's at four?" he asked.

"We entered a talent show, it's being held at Monday at school. The principal gave the contestants a week off, so we're gonna practice with our other bandmate back at NMC via video call."

"So that's why you and Benjamin are coming along and not at school... Wait, what's Pandora doing here if she's not entering?"

"Do you remember that our school just introduced a new journalism class? We've got journalism assignments too.

"Oh. So, what this for?"

"Turn here," I directed us to the elevator. "Benjamin's finally gonna propose to Pandora to be his girlfriend-"

He halted a step behind me. "What?!" he shouted in disbelief, opening his eyes wide and slowly growing a grin. It echoed and escaped to the living room.

"Shhhh!" I ordered, putting a finger on my lip. "Don't let Pandora know about this. It's gonna be the surprise of her life."

"Oops, sorry," he apologized, pacing back to me. "Oh, I just can't believe it...my little nephew's growing up!"

We got to the elevator that was disguised as a pillar and paused in front of it. "I know right?" I agreed, putting my eye in front of the iris scanner. When the doors opened, we went in and descended to the garage.

The doors slid aside and we stepped into the garage. "So, what did you two plan to do in the talent show?"

"We're gonna do a song for her."

"Mmm...what song will you and your band perform?"

I signaled to his so he'd come closer to me so I could whisper the title to his ear. "Oh, that's a good choice..."

"And we made some enhancements. We changed the lyrics in the second verse so it'd sound more more appropriate."

"That's even better... So anyway, what car did you have in store for this time?"

I extended a hand towards the front. "But first, direct your attention to the turntable please..."

At the tunnel behind the turntable, the mix of a hum and roar of a familiar engine bounced off and echoed into the garage from storage. As it closed in on the exit, the hum grew louder and violent with its turbochargers whining.

Then it came out of the tunnel then parked in the turntable. It was a four-door sports sedan coated in deep black, it had a set of black 19-inch double 5-spoke wheels with Michelin Corsa tires wrapped around it, had French license plates, and it revved its bi-turbo V8 when it parked before turning it off.

"Is...is that..?" Geronimo hesitated as the turntable spun the car towards our direction.

"Yes Geronimo, it's Terra," I confirmed to him.

On that turntable was a clone of Terra, Geronimo's Hennessey-tuned Cadillac CTS-V Sedan with the HPE1000 Twin Turbo upgrade.

"Unbelievable! Where'd you find the time to import her to France?" he asked.

"I didn't, this is one of my Cadillacs," I answered. "Terra was a clone from this Cadillac so I could give her to you."

"But it's her, you said?"

"Her AI profile is, not physically. I commanded her to switch and take over this embodiment from New Mouse City. So technically, this _is_ Terra."

"It's a pleasure to see you here, sir," Terra stated.

"Likewise, my dear Terra..." It seemed like Geronimo had a very close relationship with his car. "Anyhow, who's driving?" He turned to me.

"Either you, or autopilot," I proposed.

"I'll drive, then," said the mouse in a green suit.

And with that, we jumped in, Geronimo started up the engine and zoomed off, heading straight for Charles de Gaulle Airport.

* * *

**Charles de Gaulle Airport**

**1233 hours**

We got to the airport's southern airfield entrance when we arrived, stated our business to enter at the guard (in French) and went through the gates.

We continued to drive up north towards the hangars, where a cargo aircraft parked in front of, namely the Hercules C-130. It's crew and loadmasters were bringing down the loading ramp, about to bring out our news van from the cargo bay.

We parked a few yards away from the plane itself, taking shelter under the shade of its enormous stabilizer tail from the heat of the sun.

"_Bonjour, monsieur," _Geronimo greeted as we stepped out of the car.

"_Bonjour, Monsieur Stilton_!" replied the loadmaster. "We have your van here, safe and sound."

"Lets see it," I interrupted.

The second loadmaster from inside the cargo bay drove the van out, and halted a few feet away from us. We took the loadmaster's words, because there wasn't a single scratch on the paint. It was a cheese yellow Mercedes-Benz Sprinter with the Stilton Media Group's logo on the sides and a giant satellite dish on its roof.

"Ah, just like the way it was at New Mouse City. _Merci_," thanked Geronimo.

"You are most welcome," replied the loadmaster.

"Wanna check the equipment?" I suggested.

He nooded, and we proceeded towards the back. Opening the two doors, we saw every piece of equipment Geronimo packed was intact. "Everything is here, let's bring it to the Eiffel Tower," he announced.

* * *

**Eiffel Tower **

**1307 hours - 6.5 hours till event**

We got to the venue of the fashion event (with Terra driving herself) to set up our part of broadcasting. We stopped at our glass commentators' booth which was at the back facing the runway near one of the Tower's legs, and upon getting out I noticed a number of people making last minute touches to the catwalk, cameras, chairs... And at the second level, there were people from a French broadcasting company setting up their cameras for France's broadcast. (Did I mention that we were cooperating with them?) There was also a mobile crane for capturing aerial visuals over the spectator chairs.

"Well, let's get to work," Geronimo squeaked, leaving his green jacket inside the van as we both got out.

"Why are you leaving your jacket?" I asked, walking towards the front of the van.

"Because we are about to sweat all afternoon by setting up our equipment." He took out a walkie talkie from his waist that I never noticed he had hidden under his jacket. "_Cela est Geronimo Stilton du Stilton Media Group, quelqu'un là-bas répondre_, _s'il vous plaît_," he said into the device after tuning it in the right frequency.

"Who are you trying to contact?" I asked again.

"The technicians from the French broadcasting company we're cooperating with. They told me yesterday to be here to help them out," he answered.

A second later, Geronimo's call was responded. "Geronimo Stilton! _Vous êtes venu juste à temps_!" said a male technician. "_Nous avons vraiment besoin de votre aide ici_."

"_Que devons-nous faire?"_

"_Avez-vous apporté les caméras supplémentaire?"_

"_Oui, nous l'avons fait. Ils sont ici dans le fourgon."_

_"Fantastique! Nous avons besoin l'un sur le premier niveau parce que nous sommes pénurie de caméras."_

_"Roger, je vais avoir mon assistant de l'envoyer à vous. C'est tout?"_

_"Pour l'instant, je vais vous dire si je besoin d'autre chose."_

As I mentioned before_, _I could understand and speak French. "Let me guess, you want me to send up an extra camera because they don't have any more?" I repeated.

"Exactly," he answered. "Take one of these cameras to the first level and meet the technician. He should be on the platform right above us."

"Roger Roger," I complied with a cartoonish salute.

Geronimo extended a ramp under the back doors after opening them, then he brought out one of the professional cameras on a tripod with wheels for me to carry on with the task.

"In the meantime, what are you gonna do?" I wondered, getting my hands on the handles.

"I'll be taking care of the equipment in our booth. Microphones to connect, bringing in the camera...lots of things."

"I guess I'll be on my way then..." I pushed the camera to the elevator by the other leg of the tower right across the base of the structure. I rode it up with the camera to the first level, and I had to walk two long stretches of platform to meet the head technician at the same spot where I was at the bottom.

Then I had to get a whole bunch of cameras to different places under the tower. One in front of the judges table, one to the cameraman's post behind the chairs at the end of the catwalk to capture the models wearing the designers' combat gear, one to just in front of the backdrop for our hostess to make comments, and assemble one to the crane. Then at the last minute when I returned to the booth, Geronimo told me at the last minute that I needed to make sure that the cameras were in good condition and fully operational including the one at the second level and the one on the crane. I had to get back to every single camera that I set up and turn them on, test record to make sure the was a memory card inserted, and connect those cameras to the van via long-distance Bluetooth to send footage for the broadcast. Not just that, I also had to make sure that the ones that had the teleprompters were working fine. When I got back to the booth the second time, it was already 3 pm and I was sweating like a sprinkler.

I found Geronimo still inside the booth with the camera he set up inside, sitting back on one of the chairs with his arms behind his head and humming a song relaxingly. I didn't even see a single sweat stain on his clean, white shirt.

"I'm done...finally..." I said exhaustedly and panting, entering the booth through a glass push door. The air was much cooler than the outside.

"That makes us both then," he said, continuing to hum his song.

I kept silent until a question aroused. "Have you been in here the whole time?"

"Well, not most of the time. The only time I was in here was after I connected the microphone cables to the van, stayed in the van making sure that the Bluetooth connection was strong, testing signals to the satellite so other TV stations around the world could receive the live footage, and I had to catch a triaxle cable from the first level that the technician threw and connect it to one of of the ports in the van because Camera 5 would not work without that cable. So, I was spending most of the time outside the booth."

"And you did all that without breaking a single drop of sweat?"

"I was done about ten minutes ago. So I thought to myself; 'why not just rest in here?' So I did, _chilled_ myself in here, literally, waiting for you."

"What do you mean, 'chill yourself in here literally'?"

"You didn't notice the air-conditioner being up there?" He pointed towards his right to the air-conditioner at the top corner of the glass wall. I slowly looked, and felt missed out for not noticing.

"Ugh..." I reacted. "Can we rest a few minutes before we go home? I'm beat..."

"Of course," he permitted. "You deserve it after a hard day's work."

In relief, I collapsed, letting myself fall forwards to the ground and had my arms to break it, then laid on my back and took a power nap next to the camera before we headed home.

* * *

_**Château de l'Arif**_

**1528 hours - Aprox. 5 hours till event**

We got back to the chateau after a while of driving in Terra as we had to leave the van at the tower.

In the moment, Geronimo, the mouselings and I were sitting together on the living room couch, as the three of us were surrounding Geronimo while he compared the lines we rephrased. I had the .doc files sent to one computer (which was Geronimo's own) via AirDrop so he could view them in a single device.

Geronimo was about done reading mine which was the final .doc file, then came the verdict. "Hmm...you all did very well in rephrasing the script. Good job to that," he praised, "but among you three, there was only one that I felt the best and greatly well written."

"Who?" Benjamin asked eagerly, waiting for a name to be mentioned.

"Pandora," announced the uncle.

"Yes!" shouted Pandora, raising her paws in the air victoriously. She threw a couple of soft punches to the side of our arms then went to the kitchen for a celebratory glass of milk. "Eat it, boys! You just got rekt!"

"We just got powned...by a girl," I said as we both watched her leave.

"Just take it like a man, Danny," he replied.

Geronimo who failed to understand gamer's language, flipped down the screen of his MacBook Air. "I have no idea what that meant, but Danny, can you do me a favor and program the lines into the teleprompter using your chip, please?" he begged as he looked back.

"Sure thing," I said, heavy-hearted after the loss.

"Thank you." He checked his watch for a while. "It's almost four, don't you two have any places to go?"

Benjamin shot his uncle a confused and suspicious stare with his eyebrow raised. "What have you heard?" asked Benjamin.

"Danny told me everything. I just can't wait to see the both of you perform for Pandora!"

"I'd thought you might say that...and I can't wait to see the reaction on her snout when I propose to her!"

"Well, I wish the both of you best of luck. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check my wardrobe to choose what suit to wear for tonight." The orange-furred humanoid got up, left his laptop on the coffee table and went to his room.

I was thinking of starting practice early, but my body had other plans. "Hey Benjamin, wait here for a minute. I'm gonna take a shower...been sweating a lot after doing work at the Eiffel Tower."

"Oh, sure! Go ahead..."

"I'll see you in fifteen minutes." Leaving Benjamin alone, I rushed up the stairs and went straight into my room.

* * *

**Music Studio**

**1557 hours**

After the hot shower, Benjamin and I went underground to the studio for the practice session we scheduled. We made sure Pandora wasn't around to catch us, follow us, and made sure she had no idea where we scampered off to. I also told J-Son to hush relating our whereabouts.

We descended to the underground level with the same elevator, navigated the confusing maze of halls to the studio as I lead Benjamin.

What I can remember and describe from the studio that it was mediocre sized, it had one big piece of multi-colored lightpad for flooring, and the sound-absorbing walls were coated in white. Other than that, it had a storage room for musical instruments and a large screen used for lessons and tutorials.

As we entered, the screen flashed an alert of an incoming video call. It was Flash, right on time. I answered it, and Flash's face was in the middle of the screen.

"Looks like I called just in time, huh?" he began.

"Yup, we just got here in fact," replied Benjamin.

"So, how's France?" Flash asked.

"It's nice, after all, it's spring," I stated. "How're things back at home?"

"It's normal, but it gets boring sometimes. Oh! I heard from Benjamin that you'll be showing up on TV later!" he informed.

Benjamin didn't give him the complete information. "That's night two," I added.

"Stuck with being the producer, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"But I'll be watching though. Man, I'm so hyped about it!"

Benjamin crossed his arms. "It's a women's fashion event. Why are you excited over that?"

"I'm not in it for the supermodels, okay? I'm hyped because I'm about to see guns!" Flash is also a firearms enthusiast. "It's on your regular channel, right?"

"Yeah. Do you even know how much we had to pay to the TV station to broadcast this for two hours?" I asked rhetorically.

"Must've costed a fortune," Flash estimated.

"It did. So, are we all set?"

Flash got to his DJ equipment. "I know I am."

"Let's get practicing!" Benjamin squeaked, spirited.


	6. Chapter 6-Night One: Urban

**A/N: Did ya really think I went on hiatus for a month just to bring you just one chapter? No way! Here's another one to make up for loss time.**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters and or stories are applied to this chapter. **

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Night One: Urban**

**1830 hours - 1.5 hours till event**

We ended the practice session half an hour ago so we could get ourselves ready for the night's big event (except for Trap, he was on visuals duty with Pandora in the van). While the adults went to change into their formal attire for their TV appearance, the three of us teenagers just refreshed and relaxed at the living room with Trap, waiting for them to finish.

Benjamin who was watching TV noticed the stressed and worried look etched on my face as I played Real Racing 3 on my iPhone. "Loosing a race again?" he said.

Trap was first to speak up before I could have the chance. "Lose? What are you talking about? He's on a winning streak! He's about to win his tenth Cup event!"

"No, it's not that," I disagreed. "It feels like that...how do I say this...like...something bad is about to happen."

"You're telling us there's a disturbance in the Force?" Pandora suggested, sitting back in the couch across.

"Yeah! That's it..." I agreed. "I keep having minor anxiety attacks for the past hour. Fearing about something, but I don't know what."

"Who wants to carry guns as precaution raise their paws," Trap favored. All of us raised our paws and hand. "Motion carried..."

We came back up from the underground levels with pistols from the armory. We prioritized on ammunition capacity, so we chose Glock 17s.

I was holstering my 9-mm pistol when all of the doors from upstairs threw open. We all looked up at the balcony, but we couldn't see the people because lighting was absent on those parts of the ceiling. Our eyes followed the thumps as the made their way to the stairs, stepping into the light. Until then we could see the whole picture.

Geronimo, Thea and the Thea Sisters were all costumed in a mix of beautiful and neat suits and dresses. Their fur tones were all matching with the colors they wore (which were their own respective ones for the Thea Sisters) and a touch of makeup to the faces of the girls added a little more shine and complemented their looks.

The four of us blew whistles, clapped and cheered when they climbed down the stairs. "Whoa-ho-ho! Look at you guys!" Trap commented.

"How do we look?" Colette asked, curious for an opinion as she posed in her pink female designer's suit.

"Um...a perfect 10 for handsomeness to Geronimo!" I complimented.

"Thank you," Geronimo responded, looking at his own black suit and red bow tie.

"Thea looks even more stunning than before, with the added makeup," Pandora critiqued.

"Oh you..." she blushed. She was in a full purple dress that covered from the top of her hind paws to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her eyelashes were mascaraed, had eyeliner applied, and had violet eyeshadow on her eyelids. Her tail was out of the dress, though.

"And the Thea sisters..." Trap was obviously too amazed, leaving him almost speechless. "Wow..." he uttered. Just so you know, Violet wore a lovely lavender long halter-neck dress with a v-neck not going more than below her collar bones, and had a bun worn on her head with a bit of her hair curled at the side. Paulina had a gorgeous high-neck light orange dress that covered until below her kneecaps, had her hair tied in a long braid and wore a golden bracelet on each wrist. Nicky on the other hand was in the same designer's suit Colette wore, only that it was olive green and her undershirt was peach. Her hair as usual, had them tied in twintails. Pamela meanwhile, wore a high halter-neck dress and covered from her neck to her knees.

Geronimo was the first to take note about our pistols in their drop-leg holsters. "I can notice that you're all carrying weapons. Why is that?" he asked.

"Disturbance in the Force," I said, shrugging. "Who knows what's gonna happen."

"Then I advise that we all be on high alert. Remember the last time I didn't believe about disturbances in the Force?" During our first adventure, he was baited to a set up when a call from The Technologists that was disguised to impersonate the Interpol General Secretariat. I had felt a disturbance before that, and when he took the bait he got kidnapped.

"I think we remember that one," Benjamin said.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!" Paulina reminded.

* * *

We were just a quarter way to the Eiffel Tower. The route we took to the event was starting to clog with cars heading for where we were going about until then, and gladly we found an empty alternative route.

Our convoy consisted of three cars, Benjamin and Pandora in the front, the hosts and commentators in the middle, then Trap and I tailing behind. The four of us broadcasting crew acted as escorts to the seven other mice.

"So this is what it feels like to be living in the fast lane," Nicky said, being able to be heard through the comlinks.

"It certainly is," Violet agreed, sipping away her cup of green tea. "It's not like everyday you get to ride in a Maybach." Yes readers, they were riding in Sonder, the smart autonomous Brabus Maybach 62S stretched limousine. He was chauffeuring the hosts.

"Well, you gotta get used to it," I said, escorting them in Diane driven by Trap. "Because it's gonna be this way until the end of the week. And FYI, even I'm not used to being chauffeured."

"Then how'd you travel to your E3 appearances back in the day?" asked Pandora, escorting in Banshee driven by herself.

"The usual way I get to places; letting the cars drive me."

"Doesn't that count as being chauffeured?" Thea compared the two points, sipping on a glass of lemonade.

I thought about his idea, frozen for a moment. And she was right. "Now that you mentioned it, I think it does! Who knew?"

"More lemonade, Miss Stilton?" Sonder offered.

"Don't mind if do," she accepted.

* * *

**Eiffel Tower **

**1903 hours - 1 hour till event**

We stopped and parked at the side of Quai Brainly, the road just a hundred feet from the tower. Getting there was hard enough with traffic packing in the streets, but Interpol did us a favor and reserved some spots for us to save some trouble of finding some. It took up a total of four spots for us to fit in because the Sonder's length was long enough to occupy two spaces.

We all left our cars and continued to approach the event from backstage. "Alright, Thea Sisters. Remember your positions?"

"Err...where was I supposed to go again?" Pamela asked.

"You and Paulina will be stationed at the red carpet at the rear part of the event when the competitors arrive, Pam," I reminded.

"Right," she mumbled.

We made our way around the backdrop and the changing rooms that was just attached to whole setting, and we could see that the guests had started to take their seats, murmuring to each other.

The technical crew of the event were doing some final minute adjustments to the lighting at the first level, and the projectors were still being activated to display the broadcast at the screens on both sides of the backdrop, as well as the speakers around the event.

Then I remembered that we had equip the host and the hostesses with the mics and earpieces, so we had to scamper back to the van at the other side of the tower.

But just before that, Pamela spotted the three judges talking to each other by the beverages stand while drinking a glass of punch. One of them was very easily recognized by his tall height and his tough body under that black suit, and I had thought out who it was. I just couldn't make out who because he was standing in front of a man about shorter than him. They were halfway where we needed to run through, and they were right in front of us.

"Hey Pam, isn't that...?" Nicky pointed, looking at the 6-foot man from afar.

Pamela narrowed her eyes to focus more on the face, and she was the one who made it out when the person in front of him moved aside. "Gasp! It is! It's Hussein!" she exclaimed. Then she charged ahead like a bull, overtaking us and ran straight to the man.

"Hussein's here?" asked Pandora.

"I did NOT expect that..." Benjamin said.

The person we saw was an ally, a friend, and a fellow Malaysian agent by the name of Kamal Hussein. We were allied when we first met him back at Malaysia, he has his own elite team consisting of nine other male agents by the name of the Specters, and he currently in relationship with Pamela. It all started in August last year when they rode together in Phantom across the United States as they escorted me to another safehouse.

"Kamal!" Pamela called out loud at the same time didn't want to make a scene as she continued to run towards him.

Hussein who heard and recognized that squeak peered over the shoulder of the fellow judge to confirm who called. "Pam...?" he responded.

We kept strolling after her but we didn't bother to catch up. "Kamal!" Pamela called again.

The other judge stepped aside so she could get to Hussein. "Pamela? Is that you?" he said, putting his drink down and put on a surprised face. He held his arms open, ready to receive a hug from his loved one.

Pamela was finally reunited with Hussein. They embraced for a short while upon meeting each other before Hussein opposed a question. "I was just talking about you! What are you even doing here? I thought you were still studying back at Mouseford!" he reminded himself after letting go of his partner.

"I am! I'm on a journalism assignment with the rest of the Thea Sisters! What are you doing here?"

"I've been chosen to become one of the judges of the competition!" he said. Even I had no idea.

With some enhanced hearing, I overheard as we were still moving toward them. "This couldn't be one of your surprises again, could it be, Geronimo?" I assumed. But he kept on walking without an answer, smiling.

"How'd you even get here, by the way?" continued Hussein.

"Interpol General Secretariat chose the Stilton Media Group to broadcast the event worldwide, so I came with them."

"If they're here, then where are they?"

He looked around for us, but we caught his attention first. "Hussein!" I shouted lightly, just arriving with the rest.

"Guys! There you are. How's it been?" He greeted informally.

"It's been good. So you're one of the judges, huh?" I asked rhetorically.

"Yeah. I get to judge on necessary loadout. Firearms have become my specialty," he claimed. "Oh, speaking of judges, this is Annabelle Schwartz," he introduced the lady in a black dress. "She's been serving the US Army for quite a while. She's the judge on camouflaging abilities."

"It's an honor to meet you all," she said.

"And this is Jacque Bordelon," Hussein introduced the man next to Pamela. He was in a black suit. "He's an ex-soldier of the French Armed Forces, and he was a part of the GIGN counter terrorism unit."

"_Bonjour_. I am pleased to meet you all," he greeted.

"He'll be judging on features, functionality and armor protection level," Hussein added.

Then a woman came rushing towards us. She was the event's organizer. "Mr Stilton! Here you are," said the French lady in a grey suit. She carried a clipboard and was also wearing an earpiece.

"Oh, Roux. What's the matter? You looked troubled," Geronimo said.

"I am! Zat booth set up at ze back is not ze commentators' booth!" Roux explained.

Geronimo slowly began to frown. "What do you mean?"

"Zhere is no commentators' booth! That is where ze producer and ze visual editors operate! You and your sister are meant to actually become ze host of ze event yourselves!"

"Wait...us?"

"Yes! You are supposed to be at ze right side of zat catwalk! We need ze camera you have set up to zhere!"

Geronimo checked his watch the turned to Hussein. "Cheddar chunks! Excuse us, Hussein. We'd love to stay and catch up with each other, but we must be off to correct our errors."

"Be my guest... I'll see you when I can, I guess," he said.

We continued to scamper to the van. "Trap, you move the camera we set up inside to where Roux said they would be. Meanwhile, the rest of us will get the hosts equipped with the mics. Got it?" Everyone nodded.

* * *

**1958 hours - 2 minutes before live broadcast**

6 minutes down until the event started. Both our crew and the French broadcasting group were ready, and we both reported to Roux that everything was set. In the booth, the four of us had set up our computers for the visual editing and the small exampling television so I could see how everything worked out for the viewers of the world. The clip-on microphones were pinned on the dresses of our hosts for the broadcast's audio, and they were also given wireless handheld mics connected to a long-range receiver for their voices to be heard under the tower. Not to forget the cards so they'd look more professional.

"Okay, a final pep talk to you guys. Do the best you can, smile for the camera always, and remember; be professional. Especially the Thea Sisters," I advised, communicating them with the chip.

"We will," Colette replied from the first level of the tower.

"Professional is my middle name," Paulina claimed. She and Pamela stood just in front of the backdrop.

"You can count on us, Dan," Violet assured. She and Nicky stood by outside the booth until they were cued to the judges' stand to make comments after one of the contestants finished presenting their designs.

"No worries, mate," told Nicky.

"Good luck, crew," I wished.

Then I had an incoming radio transmission from the French broadcasters. "_Stilton Media Group, être prêt. Nous avons seulement 60 secondes avant diffusion_," the producer gave a heads up.

"_Compris. Attente_," I replied. I disconnected, and connected The Crew. "Look alive, Crew. We're about to go live in 55 seconds."

"Copy that. Standing by for your countdown," Geronimo replied for everyone.

30 seconds went by and I was barking orders as the visual editors worked their magic. "30 seconds down, people! Visual editors, standby for my countdown," I told.

"Roger that," the three complied.

"Do I look okay in this dress?" Thea asked her brother, sounding insecure through her mic.

"You look absolutely fine... Don't worry about it," he commented.

"_Monsieur Arif! Nous avons 15 secondes_!" the French producer informed.

"_Renseignements reçu, en commençant compte à rebours," _I responded.

I switched to The Crew. "Crew, stand tall and look good because we are going live in FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO!"

The visual editors did their part and inserted the first line of visuals, the opening sponsor commercials, then the opening montage with the music playing from the speakers. After it ended, they flashed the logo of the event that filled the middle of the screen, then it faded away and switched to the crane camera feed that zoomed in our two main hosts as the crowd gave a round of applause.

_**Geronimo: Welcome ladies and gentleman! This event is brought to you live from France by the Stilton Media Group. Tonight, I, Geronimo Stilton, am your host...**_

_**Thea: Along with me, Thea Stilton...**_

_**Geronimo: And you are tuning in to the world's first Women's Tactical Fashion Week! (Applause)**_

_**Thea: But before we go any further, we just like to mention Interpol for sponsoring and holding this fashion competition. Please give a round of thunderous applause to the international agency that makes the world a safe place! (Applause)**_

_**Geronimo: So, you mentioned Interpol, eh? Do you want to know something, Thea?**_

_**Thea: What is it, Geronimo?**_

_**Geronimo: This whole thing is actually BY Interpol, FOR Interpol.**_

_**Thea: Why is that?**_

_**Geronimo (looks at camera): Because the female agents of Interpol don't have anything to wear that's feminine on the field. **_

_**Thea: What do you mean by on the field?**_

_**Geronimo: Oh, when their working in a raid or, executing counter-terrorism measures...you know...a battlefield!**_

_**Thea: That's right! (Looks at camera) That's why the agency has held this competition; to replace the 'unisexual' (air quotes) gear worn by the women of the agency. **_

_**Geronimo: And six competitors from all walks of life, from across the globe, have stepped up to take the challenge in this spectacular event. **_

_**Thea: They will have to design their best for their gear to be accepted into Interpol for the female agents to wear and the grand prize of €500,000.**_

_**Geronimo: The combat wear will be used for five years, until another competition is held to succeed and replace the old designs as time and technology advances. **_

_**Thea: But, it's not for tonight only! Remember that this is a fashion WEEK. Therefore, Interpol has set a different camouflage pattern for their designs for every day of the that week. **_

_**Geronimo: That's right, Thea. And tonight's camo chosen is Urban! (Projectors flash camo image on screen) This pattern is very useful in battlefronts in urban areas, so they'd blend in with the color of concrete that coats the buildings of major cities today.**_

_**Thea: Now that's done, let's meet the judges of the competition. (Looks at card) Our first judge, he's a Malaysian Interpol Special Ops Agent, leads his own team consisting of 9 other agents, and all of them were involved directly with the McCarran Disaster that happened last year. He is Agent Kamal Hussein! (Applause) How are you at this fine night, Agent Hussein?**_

_**(Camera switches to) Hussein: Call me Kamal or Hussein, whichever is comfortable, and I'm doing fine, Thea. Thank you for asking. **_

_**Thea: So, we learned that you are the judge on necessary loadout. Would you care to tell us more?**_

_**Hussein: Well, I judge on what the firearms selection on the designs of the competitors, see if they are compatible with some situations of combat. **_

_**Geronimo: Okay, now for an off-topic question. When our viewers knew that we were broadcasting, they also learnt that you are making an appearance as one of the judges. On the Stilton Media Group Facebook page, many people posted that they were excited about this...and all of them were women. (Crowd giggles and whistles) **_

_**Thea: Certainly he's became a law enforcement celebrity...**_

_**Geronimo: Indeed... So, Kamal. Can you tell us about your relationship status?**_

_**Hussein (with an embarrassed smile): Oh my God... Okay, to all my fans and admires all over the world, I'm sorry to say that I'm already taken (crowd cheers) and I truly do admire that special someone.**_

_**Thea: There you have it, fans at Facebook. He's taken, and applications are closed... (Crowd laughs) Okay...next up is US Army Staff Sergeant and camouflage expert, please give it up for Annabelle Schwartz! (Applause) She's been on peacekeeping missions in the Middle East as much as I couldn't count. How are you tonight, Miss Schwartz?**_

_**Schwartz: I'm doing just fine, Thea. And just to make things clear so no one asks, I'm Mrs. Schwartz...**_

_**Thea: You're married?**_

_**Schwartz: ...Yes, I am and my husband is here somewhere in the crowd with my four-month-old son... (Turns back) Hun? Would you please stand up? (Camera zooms into Mr Schwartz and baby, Mr Schwartz waves baby's hand to camera) There he is...**_

_**Thea: Aww, the baby looks so cute!**_

_**Schwartz: Isn't he? **_

_**Geronimo: So Mrs. Schwartz, what do you expect from this competition as the camouflage judge?**_

_**Schwartz: I would expect that the designs tonight and hopefully all the nights are beautiful, compatible with women, and don't forget the camo! It has to blend perfectly with the surroundings so no enemy faction can spot and eliminate you. **_

_**(Camera switches to Thea and) Geronimo: Well, stealth is an important tactic in combat, isn't it, Thea?**_

_**Thea: I agree with you, G. Up next, we have a retired soldier of the French Armed Forces, he was a part of the GIGN and combat technology expert, I introduce to you Jacque Bordelon! (Applause) Comment allez-vous, monsieur? **_

_**Bordelon: Je fais bien, merci. (Translates as: I'm doing fine, thank you) **_

_**Geronimo: So, we understand that you judge on the design's features, functionality and protection level.**_

_**Bordelon: Oui, I look at ze technology of ze designs...uh...how useful zhey are in ze line of duty, ze useful features on ze designs and how zhey benefit ze wearer during combat...and uh...also ze strength of ze armor and survival probability of ze user. **_

_**Thea: So when you were in your days in the GIGN, did the combat wear differ very much from today's version?**_

_**Bordelon: Oh yes, I could see zat many changes were made on today's combat wear. So many things added and improved... So I went back to GIGN to learn about what technology zhey use nowadays. **_

_**Geronimo: Explains your expertise, am I right? (Bordelon nods, camera switches to Geronimo) **_

Incoming from Roux was a transmission. "Danny, alert ze hosts zat ze competitors have arrived."

"Wilco," I replied. Right away, I notified the hosts.

_**Thea: I just received word from the producer that the competitors are here! We'll meet them with Pamela and Paulina. (Camera pans to screen projection, displaying Pamela and Paulina)**_

_**Pamela: Thank you, Geronimo and Thea. Good evening ladies and gentleman! (Camera feed switches, nameplate displays at bottom of screen) I am Pamela and this is my colleague, Paulina, and as mentioned before, the competitors have already arrived ad they'll be showing up on that red carpet any second. **_

_**Paulina: That's right, Pam. And the producer just told me that the first one has already been dropped off and is going to appear from behind that backdrop. She's a US Army Veteran, taking multiple tours to the Middle East as much as Mrs Schwarts an the mother of three kids, she is Melanie Johnson! (Crowd applauses, Johnson walks along red carpet, waving)**_

_**Pamela: Coming up next is a retired senior FBI agent, and she's awarded the FBI Star and the FBI Medal of Valor because she was involved with the 9/11 Disaster, and she saved a civilian woman by pushing her out of the way of a huge falling piece of debris that resulted into her own legs being crushed! Being able to walk again with a pair of bionic legs, she is Charlene Evans! (Evans shows up and walks on red carpet, crowd applauses)**_

_**Paulina: Rolling now on the red carpet is an active operative of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation...**_

_**Pamela: Or the FSB...**_

_**Paulina: ...recently and constantly participating in counter-terrorism operations in Russia, please welcome, Natalia Lemkova! (Lemkova walks to event on red carpet, waving)**_

_**Pamela: Our next competing designer came all the way from down under. She's 26 years old and one of the most gorgeous soldiers in the Australian Army, we welcome Commander Lily MacArthur! (MacArthur comes from behind backdrop, walks on carpet while waving into camera)**_

_**Paulina: Moving on, we have a former field agent of the MI6, and she still looks like 25 in her age of 38, she is Patricia Hart! (Hart appears, waves while moving on the red carpet)**_

_**Pamela: Do you think she worked with James Bond back in the day?**_

_**Paulina: *giggles* Good reference there, Pam.**_

_**Pamela: Thanks! I'm a fan of 007...**_

_**Paulina: Alright, our last but not least, she is new to this branch of the fashion industry and she has taken the challenge of creating the best tactical wear for female agents of Interpol against the Veterans. She's French, she's 22 and a mouse, please give a big hand for Julie! (Crowd applauses, Julie makes an appearance, blowing a kiss into the camera)**_

Again, Roux contacts me. "Break time, Monsieur Producer," she signaled. So I told the hosts.

_**Pamela: Gosh, I just can't wait to see what they have in store for us! **_

_**Paulina: So do I, Pam. So viewers at home, don't go anywhere because we're coming back after this short break with the designs presentation! Stay tuned!**_

"Cut to commercials," I cued to the visual editors.

* * *

**2130 hours**

**1 h 3 min later**

The program ran smooth over the hour, the hosts performed professionally in front of live international TV, and all of the competitors had presented their best designs on the catwalk except for one. Julie was the last one to call up.

I stood in front of the producer's desk, looking through the glass at the event. "Vi, Nic, good luck," I expressed over the comlink. It was their turn to make the next appearance.

"Thanks," Violet replied in behalf of them both, making their way to the judges stand.

"Broadcasters, visual editors, we go back live in sixty seconds, standby for my signal," I informed.

In about twenty seconds, the two hostesses arrived at the judges table and stood beside Hussein, in front of the judges' camera. "Danny, we're here," Nicky radioed.

"Affirmative, standby for my signal," I responded and ordered.

"So, you don't feel anymore disturbances in the Force?" asked Benjamin, putting his paws behind his head after he prepared the visual effects.

"Not anymore, just back at the Château. I don't know why though..." Strange, disturbances that I feel usually never go away until I find out what the danger is.

Pandora checked her watch fast enough to alert me that it was time. "Danny!" She tapped on her watch afterwards.

"Oh! Um..." I almost panicked, getting to my seat. "People! Break's over! We are going back live in FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO!" I could just imagine the French people racing to their stations.

From the sampling TV, the effects rolled and cut to the camera feed at the judges stand, focusing and zoomed into Nicky and Violet.

_**Violet: Hello and welcome back, viewers around the world! Just before the break, we just witnessed the amazing designs presented by British Patricia Hart.**_

_**Nicky: As well as other designs presented by our first five competitors. So far in the past hour, they seem to be looking pretty awesome, don't ya think, Vi?**_

_**Violet: True, but what do the judges say? Let's ask one of them. (Camera pans to fit Hussein in screen) So Kamal, what do you think of the designs presented so far in the first night? **_

_**Kamal: (Grabs mic) The designs we've seen tonight were incredible in my opinion. They were all looked very cool, very feminine and they bring out the strength hidden in women. These competitors we have? They are proving to the world that women do have a place in the battlefield. (Applause)**_

_**Nicky: And among all the five, who's designs do you think is the best so far?**_

_**Kamal: I can't say for sure, because like I said before, they are all awesome and...we haven't taken a look at Julie's yet. But what I can say is that we will have the winner of the Urban night when we've all reached a verdict. **_

_**Violet: Thank you, Kamal. (Camera pans and zooms into hosts) So, as our final contestant for tonight, we welcome Julie to present her designs. Let's see it.**_

The technicians did their job by dimming down the tower lights, leaving the lightpads on the catwalk and also the backdrop was lit with the projectors.

_**Julie (appears from backstage, music playing): Bonjour and good evening Paris! As introduced, my name is Julie, and here under ze Eiffel Tower tonight, I present to you my designs for ze female agents of Interpol!**_

Julie's first model wearing one of her designs showed up from backstage and marched on the runway like a soldier and posed at the end. She was in full combat gear and leaving her blonde hair out of the helmet, flashing her HK416 carbine rifle to the guests.

_**Julie: Here, I have ze gear for ze Assault class modeled by Claudia Dubois. For ze camo, I've chosen ze modern digitized urban on most of ze clothing's fabric. Ze shirt is made out of thin and very soft cotton as well as ze cargo pants, and zhey both have a built in ventilation system for ze body of ze wearer to stay cool (projector displays ventilation technology). And zhere is also a bonus feature; ze pants have a layer of Kevlar in between ze fabric (screen displays cross-section of the pants). So zhey are bulletproof but will cause just a bruise if you are hit by a bullet, and you will still be able to limp away to safety. **_

_**For protection, I have a shoulder pads that complements the tactical vest which can be equipped with ammunition carriers front and back, and it also houses a protection plate offers Level III protection. For ze wearer's comfort, ze frontal plates are curved on ze upper side for breast support (projection shows curved plate image). Talking about ze vest, ze shoulder straps are also filled with Kevlar so you will still be able to fight even if you are shot in ze shoulder. **_

_**For ze headgear, I have a tactical helmet with frontal and side accessory rails to mount cameras, googles or torchlights. Also for mice agents, at ze side of ze helmets are mesh made from bulletproof alloy so zhey can retain hearing whilst there ears are inside. Next, I have a pair of infrared, nightvision and thermal vision specs for eyewear **_(remember these?) _**with bulletproof lenses (displays specs' technology). Ze lenses are also equipped with LCD for ze special optical functions and for ze HUD, and they also have an enemy targeting system. Once an enemy is spotted by ze microscopic camera located on ze bridge, they will be targeted with a rectangular reticle or highlight them in red. Ze specs can be connected to one of these small connectivity patches via Bluetooth (Julie holds up and shows a small round sticker, contains flexible microcircuits), and it is used by sticking them on the receiver if your weapon (sticks patch onto Claudia's weapon) and it displays ze ammunition count on your HUD. Ze only time you need a mask is when you operate in an area with contaminated air. As shown on ze projection, ze mask is connected to a tank on ze agent's back by tubes, and it will supply oxygen to ze wearer. Ze lense will also have ze same function as ze specs. For communication, I have ze classic earpiece and mouthpiece connected to a 10-way radio receiver clipped on ze vest. **_

_**For armament, I've chosen ze HK416 carbine as a primary weapon and a Glock 17 pistol as a secondary, stored in a drop-leg holster. Ze carbine will have EoTech hybrid sights, a flashlight, a foregrip and a laser module mounted to aid with vision, stability and aiming. Effective on close to mid-ranged combat. Other recommended weapons include ze M4 CQB, ze G36C, ze Bushmaster ACR and ze FN SCAR-L. A choice of shotguns are available as well, for example, ze Remington MCS870 and ze Kel-Tec KSG. I understand zat ze agency prioritizes on mobility and ammunition capacity, so what I have done is zat ze agent will carry five normal capacity magazines and five extended 60-round ones. Zat way, ze agent can move fast without running out of ammo in combat. As a last resort, agents are supplied with a knife housed in ze carriers on ze shoulder. For eliminating a large group of enemies, ze agent will be equipped with 3 M67 fragmentation grenades. (Claudia reveals grenades on vest) Don't worry, they are empty and disarmed. **_

_**I've proposed a company to manufacture one of my inventions. So, instead of a sling, a weapons carrier on ze back (model turns around) is installed on ze vest. So when you need to stow away your primary and switch to your secondary, just hold your weapon over ze carrier and sensors make ze clips on ze bottom and top to retract and grip sturdily on ze weapon (Claudia demonstrates). Don't worry about it being prone to fall off, because it won't. You can even run with it! So to release your weapon, there is a button on its walls near your hand. Press it, and voilà! You have your weapon back. Zis is available for both right and left-handed agents. And remember about ze oxygen tank mentioned? Zis is it! Ze carrier is inter grated with ze tank so you do not have to carry extra weight.**_

The carrier was circular shaped, a little raised on the back and had little clips on its surface that tilted to the left.

_**Julie: For ze Scout class, I basically implemented ze same thing as ze Assault but with smaller primary magazine carriers. (Second brunette model marches on the catwalk) Ze second difference is on it's loadout. Scouts will wield SMGs. Dawn is carrying now an FN P90 with its built-in red dot sight, effective in close to mid-ranged combat. A handful of other SMGs are also available such as ze KRISS Vector, ze B&amp;T MP9, ze H&amp;K MP7, and ze SIG Sauer MPX. But if you really want to go large, we have ze fully automatic AA-12 shotgun. (Second scout appears) She is supplied with four 32-round drums of slug shells for accurate shooting. Grenades that I had in mind were MK3 concussion grenades, smoke grenades, flashbangs and nail grenades. In addition, Scouts will also carry one of these Scout Drones (Dawn takes out spherical drone from back and presents it) for a heads up to a whole squad. How it works is zat after it is deployed, it will fly around ze area and scout to see if there are enemy's around. If it does, it will send sonar signals zat cannot be heard but it can be seen with ze specs. Ze two devices can be connected, and ze result of ze sonar hitting an enemy is zat he will be displayed and highlighted red on ze specs within ze environment. If allies or objectives are detected, it will highlight them in green. Dawn will demonstrate. Dawn, launch ze drone. (Dawn throws drone in the air, propellers sprout out from middle and flies away) From Dawn's perspective as seen on ze projection, ze drone will also highlight itself green. And when it sends out ze sonar, It will be simulated by ze specs by displaying a growing turquoise dome. (Projection displays specs POV, drone emitting sonar) All of zis was invented by a friend of mine, so I'd like to credit Professor Paws Von Volt from New Mouse City for zis incredible piece of military technology!**_

"Looks like Prof Von Volt really did something to the combat specs you gave him," Benjamin said. Those specs were actually my inventions, further developed by the Prof. We first put them into use during the McCarran Disaster.

(Sniper model makes an appearance) _**For the urban sniper, I have ze same camouflage pattern on its clothing, it has ze same plate and as well as its carrier. Ze headgear is a little different; just a sniper's boonie hat, earpiece and mouthpiece comlink, and ze same specs. For ze weapons, I chose for ze agents to carry a bolt-action sniper such as ze Remington MSR like ze one Laura is holding. Some other rifles are also recommended. For example, Accuracy International's AWSM, ze M40A5, or ze lighter Steyr Elite. Not forgetting any semi-auto rifles for newbies, I suggest ze M110, ze RSASS, and ze Mk 14 EBR. Snipers are best deployed on rooftops to cover their teammates and for support. **_

(Ponytailed-blonde model marches on runway) _**As for my designs on ze Gunner, what I have done is that I have broader shoulder pads, and a larger area of ze plate and ze vest to cover ze whole torso and back. Ze shoulder straps are still stuffed with Kevlar, FYI. Ze headgear is very different from ze others except with ze same helmet and specs, but I've added a scarf wrapped around ze neck and covers the whole face. It is well ventilated, made of thin cotton but underneath it is a filtering mask with integrated microphone which helps ze wearer breath in situations with contaminated atmosphere. So besides looking intimidating, you can be able to breath, too. Agents of zis class may wield LMGs namely the LSAT like Sasha has right now. It's light, accurate and has a large ammo capacity. For ze sake of mobility, I recommend only two boxes of spare ammunition to be carried on ze utility belt.**_

We thought that that was all she wanted to present to us, but we were surprised. The five models marched to the back, standing at the platforms at the sides of the main runway stretch, blocking the feed of the projection of urban camouflage on the screen. After that, five more models came from backstage and march down the runway and at the stage at the end of it, showing off the same gear. The twist was, they look much younger. Teenaged, in fact.

_**Julie: These are also available for junior agents, but so far from what I've heard is that ze agency only has two...heheh...but it is better to have and not need, than to need and not have.**_

We were watching the whole thing in the booth. "Two? I thought I was the only female junior agent," Pandora thought.

"Did you know that Nicky is actually 16?" I explained.

"Really? Why want I told that?"

"I don't know, but what made her a junior agent is that she's under 18."

_**Julie: So, zat concludes my presentation for tonight! Thank you for your time everyone, goodnight! (Takes a short bow, walks to backstage with models, crowd applauses)**_

_**(Camera feed switches to second stage camera, lowering down to) Geronimo (at the right of the stage): Well, that was a handful of designs. Four different ones for each class with each of their own combat technology and weapons.**_

_**Thea: Not to mention how they looked...how do you think I'd look in the Assault gear if I was in the models' position? **_

_**Geronimo: All I can say is that you'd look somewhat professional, aggressive, mostly feminine, and it makes me imagine you saying: "Lock and load..."**_

_**Thea: You think so, G? What about with the specs? (Takes out specs from back and wears them, presents to Geronimo)**_

_**Geronimo: Well, the turquoise lenses doesn't quite suit the purple dress, but maybe you'd look like the Terminator with the gear. (Everyone giggles) I'm not kidding! It'll make you look fierce in that!**_

_**Thea: Whatever you say, John Conner... What about you? I thought you had the specs too.**_

_**Geronimo: I did, and so does everyone here! Guests of the event, I kindly request all of you to check under your seats. Julie has a surprise for all of you. As well as the judges.**_

We could see from the booth that everyone was trying to reach blindly what was under their seats until they finally got them ant took them out.

_**(Camera switches to guests)**_ _**Thea: Yes, everyone! I know you can't believe it but Julie has given each of the guests one pair of of her combat specs as a gift to you! **_

_**Geronimo: I think the viewers couldn't believe it as well. I can imagine that they wish they were here in Paris.**_

_**(Camera switches to Geronimo and) Thea: So, put them on, I want to see how you look.**_

_**Geronimo: Okay-okay... (Takes out specs from jacket ant puts them on) How do I look?**_

_**Thea: In that suit...like an 80s guitarist robot.**_

_**Geronimo: What?! (Crowd laughs)**_

_**Thea: No offense, but you kinda do in that suit. **_

_**Geronimo: Okay, but what if I was in combat wear?**_

_**Thea : (Stares at Geronimo) Okay, I have to say that you'd look awesome with that on. **_

_**Geronimo: I thought so...**_

_**Thea: So, we are going to take a short break meanwhile the judges evaluate the designs overall. So stay tuned and don't go anywhere because we will be right back.**_

* * *

**9 minutes later...**

**After the break and judging 5 contestants**

We came back on air a few minutes earlier. The last few minutes the judges spent were on commenting the contestants' designs. So far, Melanie Johnson had an overall score of 8, Charlene Evans received 8.4 points, and Patricia Hart has been 8.9 points. At the moment, Natalia Lemkova was being critiqued on her designs.

"So, we've had a discussion," Hussein began after commenting the designs. "Overall...congratulations. You receive 9.6 points." The crowd applauded, and Lemkova took a grateful bow on the stage.

As her turn was up, Thea and Geronimo called the final contestant to step to the stage; Julie.

"Julie, I have to say, for a newbie in law enforcement, you've got some real skills in designing combat wear," Hussein started. "First of all that I'd like to comment is about your designs' loadout. For the Assault's, that was a nice touch of weapons you had equipped to the model. The choices of carbines, shotguns and assault rifles as well as the attachments were carefully chosen and I'd agree to what you suggested because they don't weigh that much and Assaults need more mobility. Primary ammo count is good, combining both 30 and 60-round mags, and the grenades were alright, but I thinks we should avoid friendly factions being injured due to those M67s' wide blast radius, so I'd equip some concussions instead. And the Scout's; it's a great thing you chose mostly SMGs in its armament, because Scouts scout out and require close range kills and they're super light for maximum mobility. And that AA-12; at first I was disagreeing, but when you said it was going to be fed with 12 gauge slugs, I changed my mind. And the grenades you suggested were perfect with the class. In urban combat, flashbangs and smoke grenades are important for surprise infiltrations. The Sniper; also good selection of marksman rifles. Rooftop snipers don't really move much, only providing supportive fire from above, so I can say that they are acceptable. For the Gunner, the LSAT LMG is the _best_ firearm for this class for all time. It's light, it has a large ammunition capacity, accurate, again, light, just to emphasize that... Okay, I'm just saying that the LSAT boosts mobility unlike other LMGs, they're bulky, heavy... And Glock 17s as sidearms was a perfect choice. So, overall on your loadout score, I'd give a nine-point-seven. Congrats."

The crowds claps, as well as us in the booth. "Seems like Julie's doing pretty good," Trap said.

"I'm getting a feeling that she'll win tonight's round," Pandora predicted.

Geronimo beside the stage with his sister called the next judge, Annabelle Schwartz. "Julie, you design those gear wonderfully. As Geronimo described his sister if she were in it; fierce, aggressive, professional and it shows the inner strength in women. All in the same time, you managed to make it feminine..." By that comment, a round of applause was given. "Am I right?"

By that exact moment as well, my breath felt short. I felt a strong ripple being made in the Force. My pulse was intensifying, I began sweating lightly, and I held my hand on my chest to feel my heartbeat; pumping faster by the second. I categorize that level of disturbance as a Level Three Disturbance: a sign of a life-threatening danger.

Benjamin was the first to notice. "Is everything okay, Danny? You look uneasy," he stated.

I stood up from my chair immediately and got to Pandora. "No, something's not right," I answered as I rushed. I had a feeling that something was going on at a specific spot of the tower, able to be seen at one of the cameras. "Pandora, get me the feed from Camera 4," I ordered.

Camera 4 was the camera pointed at Geronimo and Thea. It was angled; upwards and it caught some of the Eiffel Tower at the leg opposite of the one where the booth was in the background. Pandora tapped into the live camera feed, and she displayed it on her monitor. At first, we both saw nothing in the background. But then, I did.

I looked closely and carefully into the screen at the top left, where the first level was seen. I saw a black figure, human and female, standing and faced the river Seine. She seemed to have some sort of device in her hand. "Zoom in there," I told her. It was confirmed by my eyes. "You see that?"

"Yeah, I see it," she squeaked.

"Wait here, I've a disturbance in the Force. I need to go check it out," I said to everyone, getting to the door.

"Are you sure you don't need backup?" Benjamin offered.

"Stay here and stay with her! I need to know if she's still there..." I proceeded to leave the booth, and jogged the whole way while following a route avoiding cameras and around the spectator chairs to the elevator at the leg across.

As I kept on jogging, Schwartz made more comments. "I love the way you implemented the curved front plates on the flack jacket, I think the wearer will be really comfortable. And for the important part, the camouflage. I understand that you chose digitized urban because it looks modern, but I think I prefer both classic and digitized urban. That's all I have to say, overall camouflage and looks score, nine-point-six. Great job."

Back to the situation, I was halfway to the elevator. "Is she still there, guys?" I asked through the comlink.

"She's not moving, you still have time to get to her," Benjamin updated.

With a 'roger that ', I kept on going when Thea called Jean Bordelon for his comment on the technology. "Julie, I am amazed about ze combat support technology you utilized. First of all, these specs. In my opinion, these could help a lot in combat situations. Ze bulletproof lense with ze LCD HUD is a piece of fine tech, as well as ze vision modes available. The enemy targeting system; it is wonderful. I thought zat zis thing would not exist in another five years. And I am impresses zat how ze specs cooperate with ze scout drone. Ze weapons carrier on ze back is most necessary I think and it is a great invention with its integrated oxygen tank. Ze hazmat mask are like none I've ever seen before, good job, and ze Supports mask is a really great combination of ze scarf and ze filtering mask."

By then, I was already in the elevator, ascending to the first level. "Danny, where are you?" Pandora wondered.

"I'm just a third quarter way up, ending the ascent in a few seconds," I reported.

"Better hurry up, whatever she's doing up there, it looks like she's about done."

At the bottom, Bordelon continued to judge. "On ze aspects of protection, you have done a very good job in making them. Level III plates zat offer protection from most caliber rounds while still maintaining mobility, bulletproof Kevlar pants so agents can still limp to safety, Kevlar shoulder straps on ze vest... I am simply speechless. Your designs were one of a kind, therefore nine-point-seven overall protection, features and technology score."

I got to the first level at that point, scouring left and right upon exit. I veered left, crept my way to the tower's leg opposite of my location. Without making any noise, I unholstered my Glock and continued to prowl quickly on the platform as I aimed at the front.

"All we can say that is your designs were incredible and stunning. You blew us away," Hussein went on.

Halfway there, I saw the woman. She was in a black jumpsuit, had a utility belt wrapped around her waist, masked, and she had a blonde ponytail sticking out of it at the back of her head. She was definitely doing something with the device she was holding, pressing on its buttons near the steel frame of the tower's leg.

"The three of us have been talking over this...and we've reached a decision," Hussein continued.

I chose to get on with the usual procedure: identifying myself. "_Arrêtez ce que vous faites, cela est d'Interpol! Levez la main, maintenant!" _I shouted.

She was alerted instantly. She placed the device on the frame, then she made a break for it...and jumped off the railing.

"_Hey! Arrêtez!_" I ordered. I kept my gun and chased after her. Looking down, I saw that she was descending safely on a rope, attached to a grappling hook. "Dan, she's on the move," Pandora informed. She sounded like she was too.

"I see her. Suspect is in a black jumpsuit, masked and ponytailed, she's scaling down the tower on a rope as we speak," I responded, still frozen in place while leaning against the rail.

"We're on your six, sprinting to your 20," Benjamin replied.

"I think that we can all agree that your designs were the best ones tonight," Hussein praised.

Meanwhile, the woman made it down, detaching the rope from her utility belt. She made a run for it, heading towards the cars in Quai Brainly. I didn't want to waste my time rushing to the elevator so I could loose her, so I followed her trail and jumped off the platform as well.

Using the Force, I landed on my feet with a roll and joined the two teenage mouselings on the foot pursuit.

"Your overall score is nine..." Hussein paused just to give some suspense.

As she approached the road, we took out our weapons and continued to chase after her. We were hot on her tail, but we thought wrong as she outran us to a car parked at the side of the road.

"_Arrêtez-vous dans le nom d'Interpol!_" Benjamin yelled, running as we took aim at the car.

"...point..." Hussein resumed.

She hopped in to the yellow Renault Mégane RS, started the engine and sped out of the scene. We three got onto the road, took firing position side by side and aimed down our sights. But we didn't fire, we couldn't afford any civilians running around in the crossfire in result of being afraid of gunshot sounds.

"...Eight. Congratulations Julie, you are the winner of Night One of this competition!" declared Hussein.

We pointed our guns down, frustrated about not capturing her. "Dammit..." I mumbled, holstering the weapon.

"What was she doing up there?" Pandora questioned.

"I don't know, but I saw her stick the thing she held onto the frame of the tower," I explained. "Instincts tell me to investigate, but there's no time. We've gotta help Trap wrap up the broadcast."

We ran back to the booth, catching Trap multitasking all of our stations. "Guys! Where the cheese were you?" he said, running back and fourth.

_**Thea: There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! You have your winner of the first night with the score of nine-point-eight. Let's give a big hand for Julie! (Applause)**_

_**Geronimo: Well Thea, it seems like we've reached the end of tonight's event. **_

_**Thea: Yes we have, Geronimo. So, for our colleagues Paulina, Colette, Pamela, Nicky and Violet, I'm your host, Thea Stilton...**_

_**Geronimo: Along with me, Geronimo Stilton...**_

_**Thea: We'll see you tomorrow night for the next category, and goodnight. (Camera points to sky, credits roll)**_

"That was a great job, Monsieur Producer. I will see you tomorrow night," the French producer complimented over the comlink.

"Thanks, back to you." I then quickly contacted the Crew. "Guys, meeting at the van, ASAP. It's urgent."

* * *

After everyone left and the technical crew was the only ones behind besides us and Hussein, we got discussing over what happened. Everyone viewed the tapes and the replay-able memory from the chip that I had displayed to the producer's TV.

"Who was she?" Hussein wondered after viewing the memory.

"More importantly, what did she plant there and why?" Thea redirected to another question.

"Maybe to sabotage ze competition?" Colette theorized.

"Why put something up there when the competition's down here? Plus, the designers don't design here," I disagreed.

"Not to alarm you, but maybe she planted a block of explosive up there as a part of a planned terrorist attack?" Nicky assumed.

"Blow up the Eiffel Tower? No terrorist organization I know of wants to blow up the Eiffel Tower. Not yet at least..." Geronimo said. "Plus, we're not really sure if that _is_ an explosive device up there."

"Investigate?" Hussein proposed.

"Something tells me we should, but we have to be cautious. Danny, Benjamin, Hussein, and Trap, you're coming with me. Ladies, you're staying behind."

"I gotta bad feeling about this..." I said.

Still in the event's attire, we took the elevator up, then went to the location the woman planted the device.

"Right there..." I pointed out, taking a walk with the boys.

"This leg?" Geronimo wanted to reconfirm.

"Yes..."

"Okay then..." All of us except me looked around it in search of the device. "I...see nothing."

From crossing my arms, I dropped them in disbelief. "What?"

"I don't see it too..." Trap announced. "Benjamin?"

"Not a sight of it," he informed.

"What about you, Hussein?" Geronimo asked.

"Nope..."

"No way! It was here! I saw her put it there!" I couldn't deny the fact it was gone, so I checked it out myself. I searched like the others did, but there was not a sign of it. "Guys! It was right here! You've gotta believe me!"

"Don't worry Danny, we do..." said Geronimo. "Maybe someone came back and retrieved it."

"It seems illogical...why plant something and come back to get it?" Benjamin squeaked.

"Find anything up there, G?" Thea contacted through the comm.

"No. The device is gone," his brother reported.

"What do you mean, gone?"

"Someone must've came back and took it away."

"So, what's the next step?" Trap asked.

"I'll request the General Secretariat to place guards on this level and the elevator, no one is allowed up there except for the technical crew with a valid ID and Interpol agents with badges. Undercover agents will also be here blending in with the guests," Geronimo planned. "About that Renault, I'll have a nationwide BOLO issued to the French police once we get home. Hopefully we'll find the car along with its owner. Come on, it's time for us to head to the Chateau."

We all said farewell to Hussein and Pamela giving him a hug before we went our separate ways home.

In our vehicles, I was staring deeply in the night sky, wondering, can't help to think about the things that happened. "Still worried, Danny?" asked Trap.

"I'm still feeling a disturbance in the Force. I'm telling you, something bad is gonna happen to that tower...and the people under it."

I kept gazing at the stars, and it stayed that way until we got to the Chateau.


	7. Chapter 7-Without A Trace

**A/N: Hey, hey, hey! I'm back with another chapter to Trouble In France! So, the reason I worked on this quickly was because I really had nothing to do unlike the last time. And I'm so sorry for not making two chapters at once this time. Now, without further a due, here's Chapter 7. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimers from past chapters and/or stories will be applied here. **

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Without A Trace**

**Château de l'Arif**

**0830 hours**

**Thea's Perspective**

I woke up in the early morning as usual (not as usual as Danny does), had a hot shower, then I clothed myself for the morning which it's temperature dropped below 18 degrees Celsius.

When I opened the door about to step out of the room, I heard the sound of sizzling in the kitchen and orchestral music. And as I took a sniff of the air, there was a hint of tomato sauce with a mix of chopped onions. The scent was so divine, I decided to follow it.

I had already suspected the person behind this. I ran down the stairs while putting on my jacket over the pink neck sweater, then headed straight to the kitchen, where the smell was sourcing from.

I tiptoed not to surprise the cook and halted at the counter. Yes, on the other side of it was no one else than Danny, wearing a chef's apron and busy going back and fourth to the stove and the chopping board, putting in ingredients to his family pasta sauce in the sauce pan. The kitchen wasn't filled with smoke however as got sucked into the ventilation hood above. The odd thing about it was; he was cooking while a radio played Johannes Brahm's Hungarian Dance No. 5.

I crossed my arms, stood back, and watched him do his work. He sprinkled a dash of salt, stirred it with his left hand and grabbed a bowl of diced basil and poured it in then stirred some more. Next, he swiped the pepper grinder next to him and gave it a twist over the pan, added chopped rosemary and a few round meatballs, stirring them all at once. Then he goes to the chopping board again, placing a handful of parsley on top then draws out a knife from its holder, dicing them into pieces at 700 chops per minute. He takes the board and the knife with him when he finished back to the sauce pan and pushed the parsley in. He puts the board away and flung the knife up, stabbing the board on its way down at its edge and stuck upwards after. He then stirs the sauce around for a few times, then he takes the wooden spoon out and picks up a metal one with Force Telekinesis from the far side of the kitchen. He scoops a little bit of the sauce for a taste test, which he was satisfied with. He threw the spoon into the sink, then lowered a lid gently over the pan.

After that, he put everything he had used to make the recipe into the dishwasher, set it to wash, set the egg timer to go off in one and a half minutes, and slid onto the counter. All in just the ending of the song.

He washed his hands, turning back as he wiped them on his apron. "So, how'd I do?" he asked, leaning against the marble frame of the bottom cabinets, cross-armed.

I gave him a dramatic slow-clapping. "Stupendous," I answered. "Good morning, Danny."

"Back to you, sis..." he greeted.

I approached him, and had my eyes on the stool at his opposite. "Still troubled about last night?" I wondered, taking a seat.

"Yup, and I'm still thinking about it till this moment. Why do you ask?"

"Because from my point of view, it looked like you were serving a lunch rush."

"Well, this is one of my ways of stress relief. I tried everything since I woke up at four; shooting, sketching, video games... By then it was already eight, so I figured that I'd try cooking. But clearly that didn't work..."

"How great is the disturbance, according to you?"

"When I'd try to sleep last night, I'd wake up sweating in half an hour intervals. So yeah, pretty great."

"And what would you think will happen based on that?"

"Something big..."

"How big?"

He paused for a second. "Let me put it this way... The destruction...of Paris's landmark...at its max."

I recoiled by his predictions. "What do you mean?"

"I keep having this dream, Thea. Before I wake up every half an hour last night, I had a vision...a vision where the Eiffel Tower was demolished. It's legs were blown up, then it fell into the river Seine. That's why I couldn't stop thinking that the device the woman planted was an explosive...and where it disappeared to. It seems illogical; it poofed like Flight MH370! Without a trace!"

I let my breath out. "Don't worry so much, kiddo. We'll find that device."

"I know we will...I'm just afraid we couldn't find it in time."

Suddenly, after ticking its final seconds, the egg timer went off. "Looks like your sauce is done," I alerted.

"Get the plates from the top cabinet. I'll serve our breakfast."

* * *

**1239 hours**

**Few hours after breakfast**

**Approx. 8 hour till event**

**My Perspective **

After the heavy breakfast, the others dispersed to places inside the property. At the moment, Trap decided to have a little more pasta, the Thea Sisters went to the underground level to take a tour guided by J-Son, Benjamin and Pandora stayed at the living room for a few rounds of my latest video game, Fields Of Battle 3: The Rise off The Dark, and joining them was me and Geronimo. There, I decided to do a little bit more on the sketching I mentioned. It was almost complete, all I had to do was the shading.

Geronimo was busy tapping the keys on his keyboard, writing another chapter of his new book until he noticed what I was drawing. "Who's that you drew beside Thea, Danny?" he asked, peering over.

"I can't tell you, she told me not to..."

"If it's a secret, I think I can respect that..." He continued to go on with typing.

Just as I took a last stroke of the pencil to finish the drawing, Thea appeared from the kitchen. "Is that supposed to be...me...?" she began.

"Yup..." I answered.

"And..Marco?" She froze again.

The picture I drew was actually Marco and Thea standing side by side. "Mmm-hmm," I mumbled.

"Oh thank you Dan!"

"It was no problem, just a hobby-" I was cut off by Thea giving me a bone-crushing hug without warning. "I...can't...breath!"

She never noticed that we weren't alone to discuss about Marco. "Marco?" Geronimo questioned.

"Who's Marco?" Pandora asked.

Thea stopped gripping harder and froze again. "Darn it..." she muttered.

Being able to breath again, I proceeded with my point. "Gahhh...okay. Before you say anything, I didn't blow the secret out, you did."

"Care to introduce us to this Marco?" Geronimo interrupted, curious.

"May I, Thea?" I said.

She gave a heavy sigh. "Go ahead..."

"His name is Marco Rodenski-"

"Marco Rodenski? The multiple-time New Mouse City Surfing Champion?" Geronimo said, wanting me to confirm.

"Yes, and it was pretty much love in first sight. You see, I took Thea to this coffee shop at Cuisine Avenue, and Marco was the bartender. He came out from the back after taking out the trash, then...it happened."

Geronimo chuckled. "Have you any idea about how long it's been since the last guy Thea fell for?"

"High school, you told me."

"So you _do_ know... So, have you made any progress with him, Thea?"

"Almost...when she blew her first chance for the first move on a selfie."

"A selfie? Hahaha... You must've panicked, didn't you, Thea?" he assumed.

"Like you can do better around Patty Springs..." Thea teased.

"What?" Pandora interjected after hearing her aunt being mentioned.

"Don't tell your aunt I like her," Geronimo favored.

"My mouth is sealed..."she replied.

"And touché, Thea," Geronimo added.

"The worst thing is...she tagged Marco on the photo in Facebook," I continued.

"Really?" Geronimo beamed. "Thea, you posted the selfie on your timeline?"

"Yes, I did," she confirmed, having a little regret of her actions.

"And just look at how much attention she's got out of it! Check the comments, all of it are from her followers," I informed.

I predicted that he saved the chapter and went straight to Facebook, checking Thea's timeline. "The photo gained five thousand comments and a hundred thousand likes. All of them questioning about you falling love with New Mouse City's most famouse surfer," he said.

"The last time I checked which was last night, only three thousand people commented," I said.

"You're gaining publicity, Aunt Thea," Benjamin told, keeping his eyes on the game. "Just don't let Rassmaussen make the worst out of it."

"Does the Thea Sisters know about this?" asked Geronimo.

"Nope, not yet at least. I'm just hoping they don't check their News Feed in Facebook..." Thea responded.

I decided to put Thea out of her misery by changing the topic. "Anyway, how's the BOLO going, G?"

"The Renault is still not found, however the police have been looking for it all over France since three hours ago. They'll contact me when they do. Have no worry," he assured.

"Glad to hear..." I continued to shade the picture, Geronimo got back to writing, and the one-on-one deathmatch Benjamin and Pandora battled in was ending up in a stalemate.

"Sudden Death Mode on, no respawning," said the game's announcer.

"This is it, winner takes all," Pandora declared.

I peeked at their split screen gameplay, they were both sprinting around the map in search of each other's avatars. Benjamin scouting on the ground with an SMG equipped while Pandora was on the rooftops wielding a sniper rifle, peeking down on every gap between buildings to see where Benjamin was.

"I'm coming for ya, Pandora... My MP7's magazine is overstuffed, and it's about to regurgitate some rounds out of its muzzle right at you..." Benjamin threatened, lurking in the shadows of the buildings in the map.

"Oh _contraire..." _she replied without fret.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm right on top of you, Benjamin."

He made his character aim upwards in response. "What?"

"Surprise..." She made her character jump off the roof, spin 360 degrees around, landed directly behind Benjamin and shot his character in head.

"Spec Ops win..." said the game's announcer.

"D'ARGGH! CHEEZE NIBLETS!"

"Yes! You just got 360-noscoped by a girl! G-G, Benjamin..." She held up a fist to Benjamin.

"Sigh... W-P..." Benjamin said, heavy-heartedly bumping his fist to Pandora's.

* * *

**1324 hours**

I was still in the living room, scrolling through posts on Facebook. On the News Feed section, I found the photo Thea posted on her timeline. Comments have reached ten thousand, and likes have escalated to half a million.

I could only smile, that was when Thea came up from underground and neared the living room, looking bleak. "How was shooting?" I began.

"Horrible. My phone kept ringing from all the incoming Facebook alerts. I couldn't even hit a perfect bullseye with that tri-tone sound echoing in the shooting range," she stated.

"I could imagine how your notification inbox is going cuckoo right now."

She stood still in front of the coffee table. "Don't spoil it, I haven't even checked yet..."

Out of the blue, Geronimo came back in through the glass sliding kitchen doors after breathing in a few minutes's worth of fresh air at the yard. "Danny, we've got a hit on the BOLO. They've found the Renault," he announced.

From sitting on the couch with my leg on top of the other, I sat up straight. "Already? Where's it at?" I beamed.

"The police contacted me just now and they've informed me that it's 5 kilometers south Charles de Gaulle."

"Should we check it out?" Thea asked.

"I don't know, but something tells me we should. I'm settling in for just the three of us."

"In that case, come on. Let's grab our gear," I interrupted. "J-Son, the three of us are heading out for a while. If the others ask, tell them to stay put."

"Yes sir," he complied.

"C'mon, guys. Weapon and badge dispensers are in the garage," I informed my step siblings.

We geared up, armed up, and badged ourselves before we strapped in Geronimo's beloved Cadillac, and sped off with lights and sirens.

* * *

**Crime Scene, North of Paris**

**1320 hours**

The GPS coordinates given by the French police lead us to a narrow street. We travelled further down the road to find that it was closed to traffic with police tape making a boundary to civilians, dividing the crime scene and the city. Other than that, a small crowd gathered outside of that tape to see what was going on.

Geronimo parked Terra beside a police van, cut the engine off before we headed out. Welcoming us at the other side of the tape was unexpectedly our teammate, Hussein. "Guys! Were were you? The cops are about to wrap up, the cars need this street."

We worked our way through the crowd to him. "Agent Hussein? What a surprise, what are you doing here?" Geronimo wondered.

"Umm... The French cops contacted me first, that's why I'm here. And, hello? I'm part of your team, The Crew, remember?"

"Oh, that's right." We crossed the line, showing our badges at the officer guarding the crime scene. "So, what have we got?"

We slowly walked to the Renault. "The Mégane was found parked in an alleyway, ditched probably. The cops swept the whole interior, no prints. They're gonna take it back to their forensic lab to look for more clues."

"What else are they gonna do in the meanwhile that's happening?" I interjected.

"They said they're doing a search in the nearby area to find more clues. What we INTERPOL agents can do now is only stand and wait."

We stared at the yellow hothatch as it was being loaded up onto a flatbed truck. "Is that the car you saw, Danny?" Thea asked.

"Affirmative. It bears the exact same plates," I confirmed. "Have they tracked down the owner?"

"We have. She reported her Renault stolen just yesterday afternoon," said Hussein. "If the woman at the tower was the one who drove it, then we just have to find her face in traffic cameras to get an ID."

"And in the car, try looking for hair. She had an exposed ponytail out of that mask," I suggested.

"I'll inform them that," said Geronimo.

I started to feel uneasy all of a sudden. I looked away, then around the crime scene. Shifting my head left and right, I felt something unusual. "Is something wrong, Danny?" Thea asked, concerned.

"I sense something..." I said.

"Sense what?" Hussein wondered.

Then my mind made a conclusion. "She's here..."

"Who?" said Geronimo.

"The woman! She's in the crowd!" I whispered loudly.

We turned our backs to the crowd and looked at every person outside the police tape. I scanned every face I could see, comparing them to the shape of the masked woman's face at the tower. I finally found a positive match after several face scans; she was in a black hooded sweater with the hoodie covering the head, and a cap worn inside as the bill covered her eyes.

"That's her..." I announced privately to the three.

"Which one?" Thea searched.

"Black hoodie with a cap, black trousers..."

"I see her," squeaked Geronimo.

She noticed us checking her out from afar, so she made her move and ran the opposite way. "We've been made, c'mon!" Hussein said.

We began sprinting after her. "_Hé toi! Arrêtez-vous dans le nom d'Interpol!" _Thea commanded.

The footchase continued to the street we came in from. So all of us made a left turn when the suspect did. The four of us split up, Hussein and Geronimo ran on the sidewalk the suspect was on and Thea with me at the opposite sidewalk in case she switches. On the road was a heavy one-way traffic, making it almost impossible for her to cross without slowing down.

The suspect charged through the bustling sidewalk, shoving people aside until they fell to the ground. "_Bouge de là! Bouge de là_!" we yelled to the people, telling them to move.

The suspect attempted to lose Geronimo and Hussein by crossing the road, but still failing to realize that Thea and I were pursuing as well. She hopped onto a car, then continued to evade us by leaping roof from roof of the traffic. Car by car, the occupants of the vehicles honked and got out to curse at the suspect in French.

She jumped off the traffic and onto my side of the sidewalk. After running through a dozen civilians, we spotted her entering an alleyway.

"Hard right! Hard right!" I shouted over to the two.

After they vaulted over a car's hood, we pulled the same move and went after the suspect in the alleyway marketplace. The place was packed with shoppers here and there, barely being able to squeeze through them. The suspect on the other hand slithered though and tried to lose us in the crowd, but we managed to copy her moves while telling people to get out of the way, and caught up.

On one attempt to shake us off when the first one didn't work, she pulled a rack of postcards and toppled it in front of our path, then continued to make a break for it. And since the obstacle was just a knee's height, we hopped over it with ease.

Then our second obstacle came in our way. Two men came out from a building to move a table to the opposite shop. The suspect vaulted over it and kept on running, meanwhile Thea and I slid under and Geronimo and Hussein went around the men.

The women had a keen eye apparently. She spotted some fruit crates stacked to form stairs at one of the fruit shops. She ran up and leaped off the final stack and leaped off, then quickly her hands hooked onto a fire escape ladder next to an apartment's balcony. She proceeded to work her way up the building, passing the halfway mark to the roof.

Thea overtook me in the chase. She took the moves of the suspect to become her own, executing it no better than the suspect. I, meanwhile, waited at the bottom until there was enough space for me to hitch a spot on the ladder.

"C'mon, Danny!" she shouted, pausing for a bit.

"Climb on! I'm gonna Force Jump!" I said. She kept on climbing.

I Force Jumped just low enough to grab the first step of the ladder, making it look like I can jump high so that the civilians don't question how I did it. I climbed after them, catching up quickly to Thea.

Meanwhile, Geronimo and Hussein fell a little short behind. "Where'd they go?" Geronimo wondered, stopping and glancing around.

"They took it to the roof. C'mon, I know where to cut them off," Hussein insisted as he overtook the mouse.

Geronimo shadowed behind. "How do you know?"

"You really think it's my first time in Paris?"

On the roof, Thea and I still went after the woman. We had to maintain our balance at the top of the building's gambrel roof, one false step can grant you a one way ticket to death. We cleared a few hurdles in the form of several low walls that separated the buildings.

"_Arrêtez immédiatement! Nous sommes d'Interpol!"_ Thea ordered.

Behind the final wall we hurdled over was the end of the roof, inclined all the way to the edge. Our paws and footwear couldn't grip on, so we slid all the way. Running out of roof, the woman in black sprung off at the last second, caught air and landed one story below on a rooftop garden of the next apartment building with a roll.

In the same time, Geronimo and Hussein burst out of the balcony doors of the apartment beside the garden.

My words to them before I made the jump: "She's in the next apartment!"

They went back inside. Meanwhile, Thea and I rolled upon landing and kept going after the suspect, breaching in the occupied apartment of a civilian.

As Geronimo and Hussein made their way to the hall, they witnessed the woman storming through the door of the neighboring apartment, immediately sailing over the guard rails and skipping a floor to make a hasty escape. Soon after, Thea and I followed.

We kept the lead in the chase, reuniting with the men on our way down. After speedily spiraling down the strains of the building, the suspect made it out the front door a second faster than we did.

The four of us agents exited the apartment building. We were at a second marketplace, and the amount of people was twice as many. Panting, we searched for her amongst the crowd, looking at every person.

"Where'd she go?" Hussein said, clueless.

"I don't know, I didn't see her," replied Thea. "G?"

"No idea," he responded.

Before we knew it, she had gone AWOL; blending in with the crowd of the busy alleyway. "She's gone," I concluded, panting.

"We were so close... Dammit!" he yelled in frustration, banging his fist in the doorsill.

I still looked around, peering over people's heads to find the hooded woman. But there were so many people in black headwear, plus, I couldn't even sense her in the crowd. It was official, she was no longer at the scene.

* * *

**Château de l'Arif - Underground Level**

**1601 hours**

**4 hours till Night 2**

About two hours ago, we returned to the Château after stopping for lunch at a Muslim restaurant 1 klick east of the Eiffel Tower with Hussein. As we reached home, we found everyone out at the northern yard, using the popup facilities hidden underground. Colette and Paulina improved their accuracy at the shooting range, Nicky and Pamela dueled with each other in a set of tennis in the tennis court, Benjamin and Pandora in the parkour park doing stunts, finally, Violet and Trap at the outdoor gathering spot with Vi having a spot of green tea and while Trap couldn't help stopping himself from grilling burgers on the barbecue (even after having his delicious cheese fondue as lunch earlier).

Anyway, it was four pm again. It was time for us to start our next practice session with Flash. We went underground and marched the empty white halls to the Music Studio. "Are you sure that Pandora's distracted enough to not wonder where we are?" Benjamin asked, worrying our plan to hide the surprise would fail.

"I am... You told me about how much she loves meeting celebrities," I assured.

"Tell me who'd you set her up with again?"

"NMC's one and only Tina Parmesani..." Tina Parmesani is one of the most famouse singers in New Mouse City. Geronimo told me that he helped her once in finding her ruby gem, the Star of Luck, which she considers as a lucky charm. She even has a type of a native Mouse Island rose named after her, the Parmesani Rose. .

"Whoa, nice! How'd you get her to agree?"

"She knows me, one, and because I told her that it was a surprise you planned for her."

"You had to blow the secret..."

"I feared that she wouldn't do it! Plus, don't worry, I told her not to tell Pandora."

"That's it? What else you did tell her...or...what else she told you?"

"She'd come to the talent show as an honored guest."

"Oh, sweet!"

We entered the Music Studio after spotting the labeled door. Inside, the screen was already on and had received a video call from Flash. Seemed that he waited as he beat his drumsticks on his drum sampling pad.

He stopped his beats with a crashing cymbal. "Wow, you're here early," Flash said with sarcasm.

"Sorry Flash, we had to find a way to redirect Pandora's attention away from us at the last minute," Benjamin replied.

"What did you have to do to distract her this time?"

"A video chat session with Tina Parmesani..." I informed.

"TINA PARMESANI?!" Flash exclaimed.

I made my way to the grand piano. "Don't ask..."

"So, you ready for your appearance tonight?" he wondered.

"At the fashion event? Naturally..." I replied.

"So, where were we, yesterday?"

"Oh yeah. We were at the second chorus, about to enter the bridge of the song. Then we had bed discussing over where to insert the part where Benjamin proposes to Pandora."

"Oh, that..." Benjamin reminded himself. "It's gotta be in between the bridge or the ending. I've been doing it on my own lately, just can't decide without the melodies."

"Then we'll just perform that part for the day. We'll do both, then hear which sounds better," I suggested.

"Sounds like an idea," Flash agreed. "So, it's too long to start at the beginning of the song... Maybe we should start at the beginning of the second chorus."

"Right. Is everyone ready?" Benjamin said.

"READY!" both Flash and I replied.

"Give us a beat, Flash."

He tapped his drumsticks repeatedly on the pad to produce the sound sample of a bass drum. After a few beats, I started the piano riff and Benjamin sang to the lyrics.


	8. Chapter 8-Night Two: Desert

**A/N: After a while of hiatus, I'M BACK! It has been a while, guys, how's it going? Malaysianpro here, bringing you another chapter of Trouble In France. Just a shoutout to the first Guest review of the story, thank you so much for leaving a review! It is very much appreciated, and I see that you like the Bendora (Benjamin and Pandora) ship I've done, well, not yet shipped, just getting to that in later chapters. And I'll see what I can do about your requests about making more Bendora one-shot fics, but I can't promise that it'll be done soon. It'll be done, definitely though. So I thing that's it for now, enjoy the chapter, and I'll see ya later.**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters and/or stories will be applied to this chapter.**

* * *

** Chapter 8**

**Night Two: Desert**

**XxxXxxX**

**1805 hours**

Geronimo had called me back up right after practice to the living room for wardrobe and briefing.

I showed myself from behind the stairs, seeing Geronimo already waiting in front of the living room, standing with his paws behind his back. "So, I'm here. What should I wear?" I asked.

Geronimo slightly widened his smile. "But first, you don't happen to have a tuxedo, do you?"

My cheerful face expression falls apart. "Does the dress code have to be formal?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, because you'll be tonight's special surprise guest host."

"Special and a surprise guest host? I get the feeling that I've to do an entrance for this..."

"You do... How'd you guess?"

"Instinct... Follow me. We're going back underground."

* * *

**Tailoring Room**

I was in the capsule-shaped fitting room putting on the tuxedo while Geronimo waited outside the white, lit room filled with varieties of suits and tuxes. I was about done, I just had to tie the knot on the bow tie as I looked in the mirror.

"Are you done in there?" Geronimo squeaked.

"Almost!" I shouted from inside, having my ears to ring from the echoes. I turned around and faced the door as it slid sideways along the capsule's body. I struck a pose by putting my arms put akimbo and asked Geronimo: "So, how do I look?"

"Smart, striking, and don't take this the wrong way, you look rather charming," he complemented.

"Thanks," I replied. "Anyway, how big is the entrance am I gonna make?"

"Well, it's really big of an entrance if I say so myself. I apologize for not telling you this before, but you'll be lowered down from the second level of the Eiffel Tower by a cable."

I had my eyelids opened wide in shock, blinking thrice. "That's it?" I said without any fear. Okay, I know that is a quite a BIG entrance, but as a Jedi, I should have nothing to fear.

Geronimo's proud smirk turned into a frown. ""That's it?" What do you mean, "that's it?"" he responded after finding that I sounded unenthusiastic about it.

"No, it's not that I find it not exciting, it does, but I was hoping for something a little bit more...daring."

"Daring? What could be more daring than descending down a cable off the Eiffel Tower?"

"I don't know... Jumping off a plane and parachute down and land on Champ de Mars... Then maybe get on a motocross bike and speed there, then catching air after riding up a ramp accompanied by explosions on the launch..." I _had_ to go overboard on this... Way to go, me.

"Well...you had me at skydiving, but I think it doesn't quite suit the theme. I mean, after all, you are the _surprise_ guest host."

I gave a nod to acknowledge. Then a thought seeded into my mind. "And speaking of the entrance, don't I have to do rehearsals for this?"

"I don't think you have to...after all, you are a Jedi. What could go wrong?"

"I...suppose that you're right. Anyway, what now?"

"Wait for me to suit up. We'll leave for the tower at half an hour early than the others for the briefing from the stunt coordinator."

"I'll be in the armory to fetch a gun," I said.

* * *

**Eiffel Tower **

**1915 hours**

We've arrived at the venue half an hour early by riding in Terra. By the time we were there, only the technical crew of the event were scattered under the tower and on the second level.

Right at the moment, I was already standing on top do the platforms at the second level. I was briefed five minutes earlier by the stunt coordinator, and the stunt crew were still attaching some cables by steal d-links onto some hooks connected to the stunt harness they fitted on me. My headset was already attached to my ear, receiving signals and chatter from others. The guests were also starting to arrive and are taking their seats.

"Are you feeling okay up there, Danny?" Geronimo wondered from at the bottom.

"A little nervous, but exited," I stated as the stunt crew tested the strength of the cables by yanking them hard. "I took an elevator ride to the top of the tower, and the view was breath-taking! I could see the city in a 360-degree view. Makes you wish you were up there with me, huh?"

"Believe me, I wish I wasn't and I'm GLAD I wasn't," he denied.

"Whatever, your loss. You said that the others are on their way. Have they arrived?"

"Yup, we're already here," Thea interrupted.

I peered down the railing to the bottom at the broadcasting booth. Thea was seen waving up to me, so I waved back. "Wow, you girls look so gorgeous tonight," I complimented, including the Thea Sisters. "Who's gonna be hosting the event from up here tonight?"

"I am," Paulina told. "Hang tight, I'll be right up."

"Roger that," I replied. "Antoine, time now?" Antoine was the producer from the French broadcasters replacing me for tonight.

"Seven-sixteen. We will go live in about forty-five minutes," he answered.

* * *

**1958 hours**

**2 minutes till live broadcast **

"One minute left, everyone! Standby for countdown," Antoine alerted, before translating it to French.

"Are you ready for this, Danny?" Thea asked from below, on the stage with Geronimo.

"I'm a Jedi, I'm always ready," I stated.

"Just be careful up there," Geronimo advised. "That's a hundred-meter drop."

"Thanks for your concern, but considering that I don't feel any disturbances in the Force, everything should be fine."

"We hope so," said Benjamin.

"_Monsieur_ Arif, time for you to be hoisted down," Antoine signaled.

The stunt coordinator handed me a small clip-on microphone which I clipped on to the collar of my tux's jacket, and some cue cards with the event logo at the back which I slipped into the tux's jacket pocket. "Wish me luck everyone," I said.

There was a cable on top of me, stretching across the second level for the zip line to get me to the center. Without a reply from anyone, the motorized remote-controlled reeling device integrated to the zip line pulled me off my feet on four points of the harness until I was above the railing height. The cables connected to my thighs were pulled so my body was hanging horizontally. "Moving you to ze center in three, two, one," said the stunt coordinator.

He moved the joystick on his remote forwards, and the zip line started to carry me over the railing, exposing my view of the spectators above. "Oh boy..." I muttered in nervousness.

The zip line continued to carry me until I reached the center of the tower. "How's the view up there?" Thea asked. She was probably looking up.

"You all look like tiny ants," I replied as the reeling device lowered me down.

I was halfway to the first level. "Sixty seconds to broadcast!" Antoine alerted.

50 seconds went by. "We are live in five, four, three, two!"

I could only imagine how the broadcast would look like...by receiving the signal from the sampling television in the booth and displaying the feed on a little window on the heads-up display of my vision. As usual, the montage rolled as music played. After the event's logo flashed and faded away, the crane camera focused on Geronimo and Thea.

_**Geronimo: (Crowd applauding) Good evening and welcome ladies and gentleman! This broadcast is brought to you live from the Eiffel Tower by the Stilton Media Group. I'm your host, Geronimo Stilton...**_

_**Thea: As well as I, Thea Stilton...**_

_**Geronimo: Welcome to the second night of the Interpol Women's Tactical Fashion Week! Before we go on, I just wanted to say that last night, the competitors have designed some of the most amazing tactical wear for women using the latest 21st century technology. **_

_**Thea: In case you missed them, don't remember what they looked like or just simply want to relive what happened last night, lets take a look at the recap.**_

_**(Visuals rolled) Geronimo: US Marine Melanie Johnson came up with an exclusive camouflage design, combining digital and classic urban which gained Judge Schwartz's attention, and made off with an overall score of 8...**_

_**Thea: FBI agent Charlene Evans scored 8.4 after presenting her lightweight bulletproof plates which could stop .308 caliber armor-piercing incendiary rounds at point blank...**_

_**Geronimo: Patricia Hart was given 8.9 overall for her thermal hybrid scope on her assault weapons, which can be activated by a switch...**_

_**Thea: Commander Lily MacArthur presented a sniper scope on an FN SCAR-H rifle which could be folded to the side, instantly converting the marksman rifle to an assault rifle, and earned herself an overall 9.3...**_

_**Geronimo: FSB agent Natalia Lemkova scored a 9.6 when she presented the judges with a combination of Russian red urban camo with regular urban, infrared holographic sights on her loadout, and throwing knife. **_

_**Thea: And Julie presented lots of new gadgets on her designs. Of all the tech she implemented into her design, the most impressive ones were the Scout Drone, the tactical specs with infrared, thermal and night vision along with Smart Faction Identification and Enemy Highlighting System and a balanced ammunition count to mobility ratio. These made her gain the highest score with 9.8 points, taking the top spot in the competition so far.**_

_**(Visuals end, cuts back to Geronimo and Thea)**_

_**Geronimo: There you have it, tactical fashionistas! The fabulous designs from last night by our competitors. In case if you want to check out the full event, you can go to our website. (Website address flashes at the bottom of screen)**_

_**Thea: Moving on... So Geronimo, I was informed by the organizers that we have a special guest host this evening...**_

"Get ready," said Antoine.

_**Geronimo: (sarcasm) We do? Why didn't I know?**_

_**Thea: I don't know...**_

_**Geronimo: Well, where is he then? **_

_**Thea: I don't know... I spoke to him a while ago before the event started then he disappeared.**_

_**Me: Looking for me? (James Bond theme plays, camera switches to hanging person)**_

_**Thea: There he is! Ladies and gentleman, please give a big hand for teenage ex-video game developer and Interpol's latest Junior Special Agent, Danial Arif!**_

_**(On first level) Me: (Nameplate flashes) Good evening everyone! It's great to see you all! Geronimo! Thea! Hi!**_

_**Thea: I was wondering where you went.**_

_**Me: Sorry to disappear and pop in unannounced. **_

_**Geronimo: Nonetheless, it's a pleasure for you to join us tonight. **_

_**Me: Likewise, my furry friend. And it is also an honor for me to be tonight's special guest host. (Lands on feet next to Geronimo)**_

_**Geronimo: Quite an entrance you've done...**_

_**Me: Thank the organizers and stunt coordinators, they were the ones who planned it. (Takes off harness) The only thing I don't like about it is the pain it's causing me. **_

_**Thea: What part of it physically hurt you?**_

_**Me: (Bends down) It gave me a major harness wedgie... (audience laughs) But I'm fine now. So, (takes out cards from jacket pocket) lets continue. (Bond theme ends, plays normal music)**_

_**Geronimo: (Looks at cards) Tonight is the second night of the fashion week as I mentioned earlier, and the camouflage for tonight is...**_

_**Me: Desert! This camouflage is widely used by soldiers currently deployed in the battlefields in yellow, sandy terrain where there is no cover such as the ones in the Middle East. **_

_**Thea: That's right, Dan. Tonight, competitors will have to present their best designs to the judges, and possibly get their chance to get them accepted into Interpol.**_

_**Geronimo: But before we start the presentations, we have a special performance by U2. We will see them perform live... right after this break. **_

_**Me: Stay tuned and don't go anywhere.**_

* * *

**1 half hour later**

**2237 hours**

"This is Grounded Host to Level 1, is everything good up there?" Geronimo radioed the head Interpol guard at the first level.

"Level 1 to Grounded Host, everything seems clear up here, over," the agent reported.

"Grounded Host to Level 2, report in."

"Level 2 reporting in, no suspicious activity sighted."

"Roger that. Keep those eyes peeled."

It had been one and a half hours after the event started. All of the contestants have presented their designs on the catwalk worn by their models, and they all looked most impressive. In between breaks, Geronimo radioes the head Interpol guards of Level 1 and 2 and ask for a report. So far, there were no suspicious persons lurking around and doing anything suspicious, and there had been no disturbances in the Force in the span of the night.

He was off the catwalk, in front of the stage camera when I approached him. "Anything?" I began.

"Nothing unusual reported yet."

"Good news..."

"What about you? Any disturbances in the Force?"

"Haven't felt any. Looks like tonight's gonna be a good night after all."

"Lets hope it stays that way."

Antoine contacted us again. "Be alert, everyone! 2 minutes remaining!"

Thea who went for a bathroom break, was still not on scene. "You heard him, Thea. Where are you?" Geronimo said into his mouthpiece.

"I just got out. I'll be right over," she said.

"So G, whose designs do you think is the best tonight?" I asked.

"To show that I'm not choosing sides, I think Natalia Lemkova's is tonight's best."

"Why so?"

"That Milkor MGL grenade launcher... capable of taking out a large area of militants."

"Maybe true...but... I beg to differ. Melanie Johnson's M202 FLASH launcher could take out an even bigger hoard. Plus, it fires incendiary rockets."

"And carry a load of twelve kilos on your back? To me, I think it's a major disadvantage on your mobility. And not to mention that short effective range, twenty meters can deal splash damage to your own team..."

"In that case, I'll go for Patricia Hart's FIM-92 Stinger."

"And I'll go for Lily MacArthur's RPG-7D3 paratrooper launcher."

As we looked at the audience chatting, this slipped out off my mouth. "If any one of our launchers get picked as best by the judges, the loser owes coffee for the winner."

"You're on," Geronimo replied.

Thea shows up from behind, poking her head in between mine and Geronimo's and throws both her arms around our necks. "And if both of your selected launchers don't get picked as the best, you guys owe me some help."

Help? "With what?" I said, turning my head around.

"You guys are helping me make my first move on Marco."

"What?" Geronimo squeaked in disbelief.

"You heard me..."

"Yeeeaaaa... We'll think about it..." I honestly didn't want to, but what to do? She's my sister, how can't I? So I started writing down a mind-memo labeled: 'Operation First Move'.

"Everyone into positions! 20 seconds until broadcast!" Antoine signaled.

As it was our turn to show ourselves around the world, we put our camera faces on. Thea squeezed in between us, Geronimo adjusted his bow tie, I refined the collar of my jacket, and we stood side by side each other, looking into the lens of the camera pointed at us.

The countdown began. "We are going back live in five, four, three, two!"

_**Geronimo: Welcome back ladies and gentlemen! Thanks for still being here with us. **_

_**Thea: Before the break, we've seen the designs from Australian Army commander, Lily MacArthur.**_

_**Me: And if you just tuned in, we have already witnessed the designs from all the contestants. If you want to take a quick look at them, here's the recap from what we had earlier. **_

_**(Visual effects roll, cuts to recap)**_

_**Thea: FSB agent Natalia Lemkova amazed us with her desert wear, with the biggest feature being a set of lightweight bulletproof plates that can withstand the impact of a .50 cal armor piercing incendiary round in all her designs...**_

_**Geronimo (cuts to another recap): Newcomer Julie stunned us when she explained that the Barrett XM109 she opted for her Sniper class fires a special type of ammunition which explodes on impact with hard and solid surfaces which deals damage in a 10-meter radius and acts as a normal round when hit on a soft, organic target...**_

_**Me: US Army soldier Melanie Johnson presented a special 4x zoom telescopic sight attached to an assault rifle which suggests where the weapon users should shoot on its LCD interface to compensate wind and bullet drop after calculating...**_

_**Geronimo: And Lily MacArthur introduces a handheld device which soldiers could use to sweep mines and avoid them...**_

_**Thea: Former FBI agent Charlene Evans showed off her heavy armament on her Heavy class which was her SMAW launcher that launches high-explosive anti-tank rockets, or HEAT rockets that could annihilate a full-sized main battle tank along with the people caught within a 15-meter blast radius...**_

_**Me: And finally, ex-MI6 agent Patricia Hart presented a smart compact EMP generator which jams and disables only enemy com-links and electronic artillery in a radius of 90 meters.**_

_**(Cuts to hosts)**_

_**Geronimo: Like we said, we've seen some mind-blowing stuff tonight here in Paris, from handheld minesweepers to lightweight indestructible bulletproof plates. **_

_**Thea: But, that's only our opinion. We have yet to see what the professionals have to say about them. **_

_**Me: It's time for the judgement segment of the event, all competitors are to step up to the stage. (Cuts to contestants rising onto stage) Our first judge to comment will be Agent Kamal Hussein, our Weapons Expert. (Cuts to Hussein) Agent Hussein, take it away. **_

_**Hussein: Right, thank you, Danny. Alright, let's get down to business... Charlene, what I can say about your loadout that there is so much variety that you put into the weapons you equipped your models, and I like that...because we don't really know what weapon suits the users best, so giving a few choices is a good thing. There's one thing I'd like to point out by the way, I think you could equip some more frag grenades to your Assault class, because in the desert, you need to wipe out a large area of enemies in far ranges so there won't be any one in your squad to get splash damage from that. And your SMAW, great selection from amongst launchers along with its warhead's strong blast power and wide radius. Nonetheless, everything is wonderful overall... 9.0 loadout score. (Crowd applauds) Melanie... Your loadouts are quite creative, using a handful of combinations for attachments even for the pistols, and the Sniper's is impressive... BUT, there's one thing wrong with it. I'm not sure how you would spot a target with a thermal LCD scope in the middle of the desert. The battlefield is pretty much all heat, and often rises over human body temperature, so I think targets would just hide in the sand and the sniper wouldn't know its there. Unless there's a spotter aiding the sniper, and the battlefield was during the nighttime. And another thing, the M202 is an okay launcher, but the effective range is extremely short for long-ranged battles. But anyhow, because the rest of your loadouts are acceptable, you get 8.9 for loadout. (Crowd applauds) **_

Geronimo leaned close to my ear and said : "Strike one, Danny."

_**Okay... Next up, Natalia. Your most impressive loadout was the Support class. The M240B LMG is the most suitable I think for long-ranged support fire, extra useful equipped with hybrid sights. But, that Milkor MGL isn't best suited for the Support. Supports operates behind teammates and provide cover fire in long ranges and in this case, the Milkor is best used head on where ranges are mild to short. Might as well give it to the Scout. So, overall... 8.8 loadout score. **_

"Strike one, G," I whispered.

_**Hussein: Right, next is Patricia. I'm not meaning to turn you down, but I think the Stinger is a little bit to overkill for desert battles. The launcher itself is heavy, about 15 kilograms and that could affect your Supports movement speed entirely. And just two spare warheads in supply that weighs three kilos EACH, I think it's not practical for this situation. I mean... We're talking about wiping out just an infantry of terrorist! Not shooting down an airborne F-22 Raptor. Not to mention the cost of the launcher itself, the agency's annual budget is only $78 million. We can't afford many of those Stingers. So anyway, that's all I have to say, the loadouts of other classes are absolutely perfect which saves you some marks... 7.7 for loadout. (Audience applauds) I'm sorry, but that's all I can give. **_

"Hard strike two for you...you're out," he whispered back. I only rolled my eyes in response.

_**Hussein: Lily... You've done quite a good job on the loadout of the Scout. Combining the compactness of the FN SCAR PDW and attached a 12x zoom scope to it... Who knew the Scout could be a second marksman? And I think that deserves some marks. Secondly, the RPG-7D3 on the Support is an ideal choice for a rocket launcher packed with 4 extra warheads... Light, short, therefore easy to carry... I'm not saying that it's the best launcher, I'm just saying that it's a good choice you've made. The others are pretty fine... 9.1 loadout score for you. (Audience applauds) Last but not least, Julie. Your choice of sniper rifle was precise! The Barrett XM109 is long-ranged, accurate, has mediocre weight to be carried around... Plus, you don't even need to be mobile that much because...you're a sniper! The Assault's was the boss...equipping an M203 grenade launcher with the M4... Your Scout's was acceptional, the H&amp;K UMP45 is accurate, heavy caliber, and with that high-capacity 50-round extended magazine, it can pack a strong punch. The Support is also good, an M60 LMG with an ACOG scope, 200 rounds, and a heat-resistant carbon fiber barrel! Who knew? And finally, the AT4 launcher is a good choice. You implemented a target-locking system into the sights which programs the warhead, also its spare warhead count is plentiful... And I think it's the best launcher tonight. **_

"Strike three, Geronimo. You both are out!" Thea whispered to us loudly.

_**I got a say, you are really good at this despite being a newbie. Your score is 9.0 for loadout, you're tied up with Charlene. Congrats. (Audience applauds)**_

_**Thea: Thank you, Agent Hussein. Mrs Schwartz, your comment? (Cuts to Schwartz)**_

_**Schwartz: Alright... Now, Charlene, I think I just have one word to describe your design. Absolutely SUPERFLUOUS! (Crowd applauds) That desert tan on that camo is exactly the same as the color of the sand, nicely done... And I'd also like to talk about those vests...**_

A few critiques given by Schwartz and Bordelon in 15 minutes later, it was time for Hussein to announce the overall score of the competitors for Desert Night.

_**Hussein: Alright, time to get down to business. Lily, your designs were beautiful, stylish, and in this same time, it made the girls look furious and battle ready...your combat technology was mesmerizing, and your loadouts were carefully selected. Congratulations, we give you 9.0 overall. (Audience applauds, camera cuts to Lily who shook her fist in victory) (Cuts back to Hussein) Melanie, what we could say is that your loadout was practical, it was a good save that the thermal LCD scope could be used during night battles...excellent survival probability with the helmets, pure good looks with clothing and they camouflage well... I think that's all there is to say. 9.0 overall, you're tied up with Lily. (Applause by audience, camera cuts to Melanie saying her thanks) (Cuts back to Hussein) Patricia, your launcher was the only flaw in your design. The rest of your loadout was greatly chosen, combat tech and protection level impressive, and the combat clothing is somewhat attractive. But...what to do, I already have a girlfriend. (Audience chuckles) Congrats, you just acquired an agreeable 8.5 overall, you're in the safe zone. (Camera cuts to Patricia, crying years of joy) (Cuts back to Hussein) Natalia, your designs were good-looking, practical, and compatible with the current combat situation. Should have gave that Milkor MGL to the Scout though... But, you've done quite well tonight. Therefore, 9.1 for you. Well done. (Cuts to Natalia nodding slightly in agreement) (Cuts back to Hussein) Julie and Charlene... Tisk, tisk, tisk... you both have the best designs for tonight, but with one better than the other. Charlene, your designs were complete, everything was compatible with the situation of combat, clothing was in theme, technology applied was useful... Protection level was as high as ever for an infantry unit, and technology was surprising. I have the same to comment to Julie, but she had the specs from yesterday which could be useful during sandstorms. (Suspense music starts playing) ...The decision was hard to make, but it has been decided. The winner of the tonight will be mentioned first, which in default makes the unmentioned the runner-up. The winner for tonight is...(music intensifies)... Job greatly done, Charlene! You are the winner for tonight with a score of 9.6! (Audience applauds, victory music plays, camera cuts to Charlene on stage taking a short bow)...and Julie in second with a 9.5, congratulations to you all...(contestants on stage give each other a friendly hug)**_

_**(Camera cuts to) Thea: There you have it, ladies and gents! Our first place winner for Night Two. **_

_**Geronimo: Congratulations our contestant, Charlene for being tonight's round winner.**_

_**Me: (Looks back at stage)**_

_**Thea: Danny, what're you looking at?**_

_**Me: I wish I was up there, celebrating...**_

_**Geronimo: With them?**_

_**Me: Yeah, they all look so happy - wait...(looks at Geronimo) you're not getting a different kinda thought, are you? (Audience giggles)**_

_**Geronimo: Well, anyway, we've reached the end of tonight's event. In case you've missed the whole broadcast, we have a recap uploaded at our website, link is at the bottom of your TV screens, right now. (Link flashes)**_

_**Thea: With everything said, for our colleagues, Nicky, Pamela, Violet, Paulina, and Colette, I'm your host, Thea Stilton...**_

_**Geronimo: With me, Geronimo Stilton...**_

_**Me: Along with me, the special guest host, Danial Arif...**_

_**Geronimo: We will see you all in the following night...**_

_**Me: But probably without me...**_

_**Geronimo: ...for the next camouflage theme. From Paris, France...goodnight. **_

_**(Background blurs, music plays, credits roll)**_

"...aaaannnnddd...CUT! Great job, everyone! That's a wrap, I will see you all tomorrow night," Antoine radioed.

"You to, Antoine. Over and out," Geronimo replied.

I laid two fingers on my right temple to activate my comm. "Alright, Crew. Our job's done for the night. Rendezvous back at the van for to take a half an hour break and coffee," I spoke to everyone of The Crew.

**25 minutes later**

Basically, the Eiffel Tower was a ghost town as the time ticked on. The only ones there were The Crew, Roux, and a few people from the French broadcasting network. We grabbed a couple of chairs from the booth about half an hour ago, made coffee in the van, and sat and gathered outside to enjoy the hot beverage while chilling in the cold night atmosphere of Paris. We had a guest that joined us; Hussein.

"But I really gotta hand it to ya, if I was at that height...I don't really know what to say that won't humiliate me here," Hussein stated, talking about the stunt. Everyone giggled.

"But seriously though, my mind raced with worried thoughts. I was thinking that the zip line or the cables attached to my harness would snap, the motors on the motorized zip line would burn in the middle of my decent... To be honest, it was scary, " I told.

"But you handled it," Benjamin added. "Plus, you're a Jedi! Even if the cables snapped, you'd fall on your feet without a single injury."

"Yeah... Must've been an adrenaline rush for you," said Hussein. "If I was me up there, the adrenaline rush would be as much... as the first time I laid my eyes on you, Pam," he flirted. Pam could only blush away.

I recalled the event of our first adventure... The first time all members of The Crew were together in an attempt to run for the hills from The Technologists. "Ah... Great times," I muttered.

"Speaking of time, what time is it?" Geronimo wondered.

Benjamin who was the only one with a watch took a glance at his wrist. "Ten-twenty-six..."

Hussein got off his chair. "Welp, it's getting late. Gotta head back to the hotel."

"Whatcha driving?" Thea asked.

"I rented a DBS... It's parked at Quai Brainly."

"That silver Aston Martin? The one parked in front of our cars?" I interjected.

"Assuming that the limo was yours, yes."

"Have a safe drive then..."

Hussein waved at us and gave Pamela a hug goodbye, then went on his way to his car at the opposite side of the tower. We stayed for a while to close up shop for the night, then climbed into our cars and headed home.

* * *

**3.1 kilometers away from home **

I got some shut eye in the car on the way home. In fact, it seemed like everyone was silently catching Zs except for the drivers who dealt with the typical Paris traffic, Geronimo and Trap. Sonder drove Thea and her students home, while Benjamin and Pandora rode with Trap in my Maserati Quattroporte S.

A few minutes gone with my body in a comfortable sleeping position with the seat folded down, I started to drift away into a deep sleep. I was entering some sort of dream, but it wasn't a pleasant one.

Brief images began flashing as I entered that dream. I could make out the location, a hotel room, no, **two **different rooms. The dream blacked out, then flashed the images of from what I could see were two of the designers of the competition; Melanie and Charlene, sleeping on their beds with their covers all the way up their necks. The image flickers before blacking out again, then I briefly saw two men, masked, in each room. One of them each had a syringe, and they both injected some kind of liquid drug into the contestants. After a second of blankness, the two women were lifted and carried away to the balcony door, where the men started to climb down from.

The dream, or rather, a vision, ended just there. I woke up in shock, gasping for air, horrified by the vision. Geronimo got worried immediately.

I breathed heavily and panted as my heart started to pump at a faster rate, adrenaline injected into my bloodstream, and a layer of sweat started to coat up my forehead. "Danny? Danny, are you okay? What's wrong?" Geronimo asked in concern. Good thing we were in the middle of a red light.

Still traumatized, I still managed to speak. "Pant...I had...pant... I-I-I had a vision..." I stammered.

"About what?"

"Melanie and Charlene...are in danger. We have to turn back!"

Geronimo activated the comm on his holographic interface. "Trap, we have a Code 3 emergency. We need to get to Hotel Shangri-La ASAP!" he told the cousin, turning on the lights and sirens.

"What? I didn't get anything on the radio scanners," he pointed out.

"Just do it!" Geronimo proceeded by turning on Terra's Sport Mode, shifted into first and slammed on the gas, unleashing 1000 horsepower from the bi-turbo V8 as he pulled an instant u-turn, nearly missing an oncoming car. Trap did the same after Geronimo and I passed him and went on our way to the hotel.

I left a message to Sonder on the way. "Sonder, make sure you get the girls straight home. If they ask when you drop them off, tell the I had a vision and had to check something out."

* * *

**Hotel Shangri-La**

**2245 hours**

We arrived at the hotel in a matter of minutes, stopping with a short tire squeal. With guns strapped to our thighs and Interpol badges supplied by our cars, we hurried through the lobby and straight towards the reception and check-in counter.

"Welcome to Hotel Shangri-La, how may I help you?" The female French receptionist greeted.

All of us flashed our badges at her. "Quick, we need the suites of Melanie Johnson and Charlene Evans, it's an emergency," Geronimo began.

The woman promptly type their names on the keyboard and pressed enter. "Melanie Johnson is in suite 2334 and Charlene Evans in suite 2336. Both suites are in the fourth floor."

"Great. Can I have the building's schematics?"

"I'm sorry, I can't access the schematics. But we have a map-"

"No need, I've downloaded the schematics. It's all in the chip," I interrupted.

"Good job, Danny," Geronimo praised. We started to head to the elevators. "_Merci, mademoiselle!_"

We climbed into an empty elevator nearby the check-in desk, punched the button to the fourth floor, waited the doors to close, then ascended to our destination.

"Dan, what was the vision about?" Benjamin squeaked.

I took a deep breath. "Brief images, flashing in my eyesight. It was dark. Two separate locations, Charlene's suite and Melanie's suite. They were both sleeping. Then two men, in each suite, masked, they injected some drug from a syringe into both women's bloodstream. They were knocked out, then the men took the women away."

The whole group went silent. "We're talking about a kidnapping," Trap said, which is quite odd because he actually made sense.

"We have to check if they're still there before we take any action," Geronimo proposed.

We arrived at the fourth floor. As the elevator doors slid open, Geronimo lead the way as we jogged the hallways to get to the suites. "How much further, Danny?" Geronimo said.

"Further down, at the other side of the building," I answered, checking the schematics in the HUD.

We veered right at the edge at the edge of the floor, and sprinted at the straight while not making a sound as the red velvet carpet suppressed our foot and pawsteps. We scanned the doors, looking for the numbers mentioned. 2319, 2320, 2321, 2322... We were close.

By the time we got to 2326, my vision flashed with the images I saw in the vision. Each time, my head was attacked with throbbing headaches, though I fought it and continued running for it.

Then it got frequent. That was the sign that we were close to the endangered. As the headache struck, the more painful it became. At one level, until I uttered out a grunt that was audible to Geronimo's ears.

"Danny...!" he said, turning back towards me.

"I'm fine...pant...keep going!" I told, denying that my condition was not okay.

2328, 2329... That was it. By the time my foot was set near 2331, my limit was in reach, I couldn't take it anymore. The headache throbs were so frequent, and it hurt really bad. I collapsed to the soft, carpeted ground at running speed on my right upper arm, in front of the two mouselings, dragged on the carpet by the back for a few meters by inertia.

I blacked out for a second, having my eyes closed. They cried out my name, and stopped to aid me.

I was surrounded by my friend and family, all of them repeatedly asking if I was fine and calling my name. I was panting, sweating lightly, and felt weakened. My ears ringed, the flashes were gone, but the headache still remained.

I managed to open my eyes very narrowly, seeing all of them bending down to check on me. The ringing slowly went away, enough for me to able to make out what they were trying to say in sunken voices. I ignored answering, but told them; "Go check on them...they're in danger..."

"But are you okay?" said Geronimo.

"Pandora and I'll stay to help him," Benjamin suggested. "You and Uncle Trap go check on Melanie and Charlene."

I saw both nod, and left us three behind. Benjamin grabbed both undersides of my arm, dragging me to the side and set me to a sitting position against the wall.

Meanwhile, Geronimo and Trap knocked on Charlene and Melanie's door respectively. "Melanie Johnson! This is Interpol Special Agent Geronimo Stilton, if you're in there, would you please be kind enough to answer the door?" said Geronimo, being well-mannered like he always is.

"Charlene Evans! Special Agent Trap Stilton from Interpol, I need you to answer the door for me so I can know you're in there," Trap demanded.

Not a few moments late, they both answered. "Yes, I'm in here. What seems to be the trouble, Agent Stilton?" Melanie began.

"Oh, thank Gouda..." Geronimo sighed in relief.

"I'm here. What's going on?" Charlene asked.

After a sigh, Trap replies; "Nothing, it's just that..."

"...our sources told us that you are in possible danger," Geronimo explained.

Melanie repelled. "Danger?"

"Of what?" Charlene wondered.

Trap answered: "The intel and secrets you may know about the FBI..."

"...about the US military make you a vulnerable victim of terrorist kidnappings," Geronimo stated.

"My goodness... That sounds horrible!"

"Meh... I've been there. It was unpleasant," Charlene told.

"I'll consult my supervisory agent for further mesures..." Trap informed.

"I will update the security details on the hotel for your safety," Geronimo assured.

"That's good to know..." Melanie muttered.

"By the way, have you seen anything suspicious during your stay?"

"Not that I know of..."

"Nope," replied Charlene to Trap. "But now that you've mentioned it, I'll be sure to keep on a lookout."

"Great. You didn't come to France alone, did you?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. Why?"

"If that's the case, I advise you to be extra cautious," Geronimo said to Melanie.

"Don't worry, I will," she replied.

"Well... I think that's all. I'm sorry for bothering you and thank you for your time... Goodnight, and take care, Mrs Johnson."

"Goodnight..." Melanie shuts the door.

"I won't worry that much... These bionic legs? They've got knives and hydraulics for power kicks," Charlene boasted.

"Whoa, some legs. Anyway, if that's all, take care, Mrs-"

"I'm divorced."

"...Ms Evans."

"Okay. Goodnight, Agent Stilton," Charlene wished. She closed the door.

The two agents met up back at my location. By then, I was able to get back up on my feet. "How'd it go?" I asked them.

"It was...fine," Geronimo said.

"A little awkward..." Trap answered.

"How's your head?" Geronimo continued.

"A lot better, though minor headaches sustain. What security details are you gonna implement here?"

"Well, undercover Interpol agents are already on patrol duty twenty-four-seven, so I suppose that armed guards with M4 carbines stationed outside their suites should suffice." He took out his iPhone and began dialing a number and placed it on his ear. "If you want to go home first, go ahead. I'll catch up."

"I'm staying," I replied immediately.

"We're staying," said Benjamin and Pandora simultaneously.

"I'm gonna stay," Trap said.

"As you wish..." His callee, the General Secretariat, finally picked up. "Hello, sir. Yes, I know that the broadcast went well, thank you for the compliment. Listen, um...I have a request to make. It regards the safety of the event's contestants. I need four armed agents to guard them-"

"Make that twelve..." I interrupted.

"Make that twelve. Yes, that would be all. Yes...the boy is having visions again. Yes, he's doing - actually recovering from a major disturbance. And he's doing every well, by the way." Yes, the General Secretariat knows my Jedi status. "I will. Affirmative, 30 minutes from the National Central Bureau. Thank you, sir."

Half an hour later, we finally got to go home after the guards arrived at the hotel and stationed themselves at all six contestants' suites. Straight to bed we went, get up early at the next day, we have.


	9. Chapter 9-Taken

**A/N: That was short... Welcome back, readers! Malaysianpro bringing you another chapter. You probably expected this to be published about another week or so but here it is! I've been writing on pen and paper ever since my iPad was taken away because I'm grounded (thanks a lot, math results), but expect some more chapters coming soon! Malaysianpro out.**

**Disclaimers from past chapters and/or stories will be applied to this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Taken**

**Château de l'Arif**

**Wednesday - March 26, 2014**

**0904 hours**

Began a new day after a night's rest. Nightmarish everything was in my dreamscape, and it was safe to say that the days after this were not going to be perfect... not since the vision I had the other night.

My mind raced with thoughts during and after breakfast. Who were those men? Why were they after Charlene and Melanie? What were they planning to do?

In an attempt to escape the things that troubled me, I sat down on a deck chair at the yard and decided to walk through my mind literally in a lucid dream, or more like a virtual reality walk, visiting the museum of memories from the past I had collected. I stared at the photos which housed in frames, hanging on nothing but pure blue vastness of...well, nothing. If it's to hard for you to picture, then think of it this way; remember the third season finale of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic? Before when Twilight turns into an alicorn, she walks with Princess Celestia through her memories in Ponyville in that empty, blue space? That's sort of how the virtual walk was.

I still had the HUD on even in the VR walk, telling me anything about the real world so that I'd wake up. An alert of a heat signature of a person lurking from behind popped up in my HUD while I was reliving a memory that started to play. I used the Force to identify that person, or, rodent, perhaps, and that rodent was actually Thea.

I said out loud: "I'm a Jedi, Thea. I know you're behind me."

I sensed that she froze in place. "You're no fun when you get to sense someone about to jumpscare you," she said. "Whatcha doing?"

I opened my eyes to exit the VR walk. "Taking a virtual reality walk through my mind. It's another way to review the memories I had stored in the chip."

She sits down on the grass beside the chair. "Virtual reality, huh?"

"Yeah. It's basically my way of saying that it's actually lucid dreaming, where your conscious roams around without your body moving and you get to wake up whenever you want. But the VR is slightly different, though. It's like you play a game with the Oculus Rift."

"Can anyone else access it?"

"Yeah. If given the permission."

"Can I?"

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "...Why not?"

She positioned herself closer to the chair. "Take my hand," I instructed, holding mine out.

She held onto my hand, and I lowered my eyelids. "Close your eyes..." I said.

I brought her subconscious into my own, and started the VR walk in a lucid dream. "You can open them, now."

I saw her reaction; I've taken her breath away. "Great melted cheddar..." she murmured, starting to shift her head around.

The hanging pictures started to rise from the bottom and stopped in midair at eye level, left and right.

"How does it feel like?" I asked her.

"It's so...surreal," she answered.

I moved forward with her joining me. "What does it remind you of?"

"Season three finale of My Little Pony." My smile grew wider in pride while looking the other way.

"All of it is here. From the day I got that chip." A photo rose up from the infinite space below and stopped at our left. We halted to view that memory as it played like a video.

It was the time when I first had the chip implanted into my brain, waking up on a hospital bed inside of Caltech's underground labs. Professor Philips was there, along with his partners and my family, and it was the first time it was being tested. _"Are you feeling better, Danial?"_ said the professor in the playing memory.

_"Yeah...great actually,"_ I replied.

He checked something on his tablet. "_What I'm seeing on this tablet is your eyesight. In the software installed in your chip includes a heads-up display in your eyesight. Try to think of the letters: H-U-D._"

The HUD pops up in the eyesight. "_I got it, prof!_"

_"HUD is functional. Now for the moment of truth... Danny, (shows screen of the tablet) I want you to activate any of the apps available in this tablet. Just wave out your hand and say 'activate' and the name of the app in your mind. Try it!"_

My 11-year-old self did as told. On the tablet screen, I activated the Google Chrome browser. _"It worked... It worked!"_

_"Good God... Ladies, gentlemen, the chip is a success!"_ All of them applauded._ "There are more features about the chip which you will know later, Danial, but for now, you should get some rest."_

The playback stopped. "What was your most precious?" Thea asked.

"Of course the ones with The Crew, and my two sisters. Sarah, and you."

I sighed, and she saw me frown right after. "Are you feeling okay, Dan?" she said softly.

She's read my face yet again. "No, not really. I'm actually worried. About two things, Charlene and Melanie, and-"

"I thought Charlene and Melanie are already two things."

"What are you talking about? That was only my first point." Trust me, this is one of her ways to make me forget about my problems. By kidding until I get agitated and make her my problem.

"So that would make it three things..."

"ANYway... We gotta wake up before I show you my second problem."

We returned to reality after ending the VR session. "What was your second point again?" Thea returned to the topic.

"This." I took out my iPhone from my pocket and unlocked the screen, displaying a webpage. She read the headline quickly.

"Henry Gurney School infiltrated, one prisoner escapes with attackers?" she read.

"Henry Gurney Prisoners School back in Malaysia was where Firas went to serve his time for his juvenile involvement with The Technologists. You remember him, right?"

"I do. Your best friend who backstabbed you."

"There was, according to local news, an attack towards the school. The guys who attacked the school brought away one of its prisoners."

"Firas."

"Exactly."

"And your worried about him?! He sold us out to The Technologists! He sold YOU out!"

"So? He was still my friend, Thea! No matter what happened. I just can't let go of the fact that we are still friends..."

"Why?"

I took a deep breath."...He was the closest thing I ever had to a sibling ever since my family died and before I met you and The Crew. He treated my like his own brother, and we'd acted like siblings every time we were together. We even made a promise to each other, that we'd still be friends till the end of the line...no matter what."

She smiled. "It's like what they say, right? Friendship is magic."

"That's what bronies and pegasisters say."

"Still the same thing..."

"You...have a point."

Then Geronimo shows up from the sliding doors. Strangely, he was in his black suit and had a badge strapped to his belt. "Danny! Thea! there you are," he said in relief. He sounded grave. "Grab your gear, we're going back to Hotel Shangri-La."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, slow down," I said as Thea and I got up.

"Yeah, what's the rush, G?" Thea said.

"You both know that Danny's visions never lie, right?" he squeaked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I think you already know, Thea."

While Geronimo was ready to get back inside, I froze. "Wait...you're not saying that-"

"Yes, I am, Danny," he cut me off. "Melanie and Charlene have gone missing."

* * *

**Hotel Shangri-La**

**0932 hours**

All of us, and I meant ALL of us took a speedy ride to the crime scene with lights and sirens. Afterwards our arrival, we took two separate elevators up to the fourth floor.

We hurried down the hall to Charlene and Melanie's suite, where the French police was all over outside and inside the tape.

We showed our badges at the guard of the crime scene and went under the line with Geronimo being a gentlemouse lifting it up and letting everyone through, then caught up.

Hussein who also stayed at the hotel was seen, speaking to the officer in charge. "Geronimo! Guys! Just in time," he began.

"Tell me what we have so far, Hussein," Geronimo requested for a briefing as we walked along.

"Two of the contestants for the Fashion Competition, Charlene Evans and Melanie Johnson are missing. Since these women were the only two competitors of the event in this floor, kidnappers weren't afraid to take the guards head on and tasered them until they knocked out, then hid them inside their targets' own suites. Right now, they're at a hospital for further treatment."

"Who was the one that realized their disappearance and when?"

"Hotel room service. When the restaurant sent their waiters up to deliver the women's breakfast, there was no answer when knocked. They called the hotel manager for keycards in suspicion, and when they entered, that's when they found the guards lying limp on the floor and the women missing, about half an hour ago."

"Any idea how the women were taken?"

"Probably the same way Danny described to me about his vision through the phone, last night."

"Any traces left by the kidnappers or the targets?"

We approached and entered Charlene's suite. "As you can see now, nothing yet except for those escape ropes at the balcony. That, and lack of signs of struggle suggests these guys were professional," he said. I stepped closer to the officer taking photos of the rope at the balcony, taking a far view of the d-links attached to the balcony safety bars. "Security tapes are still rewinding, and the French police are currently investigating, so they'll contact us whenever they find something."

"In the meanwhile, I think we should do some investigating ourselves," Geronimo insisted.

We came back up from the cars with forensic kits packed in our cars. We slipped on our gloves and began canvassing for the finest detail related to the kidnapping.

* * *

We've split into teams, The Gazette Crew in Charlene's suite, the Thea Sisters in Melanie's, and Benjamin Pandora and I watched the tapes to see what happened. The Crew were equipped with the specs from Night 1, they also have the ability to highlight the smallest of forensic oddities.

"I can't see anything more with these specs," Trap complained, shifting his head around.

"Me neither," Geronimo said. "Found any blood, Thea?"

She replied from the bedroom: "I sprayed luminol on everything, no dice."

"There's that..Alright, Crew! Let's wrap this up. Thea Sisters, ready to call it a day?" He radioed.

"I am," Pamela replied.

"Me too," Violet followed.

"I am finished as well," said Colette.

"Paulina?" Nicky called, look back at her friend in the bedroom.

"You go ahead, I'm gonna finish up in here," Paulina told.

As Nicky packs up and left with the others, Paulina went on to examine the bed.

She started by shedding some black light from the bottom. She detected nothing as she made her way up, but as she shone it near the pillow, she noticed a small blotch fluorencing neon blue on the pillow itself. The specs highlighted it on sight in its HUD. She grew curious about her discovery.

Paulina laid the black light just beside the blotch so it'd keep luminating though the specs already marked the spot. She then grabs the DSLR camera hung on her neck and snapped a few photos of it. Later, she brings out her switchblade she kept from its holder strapped around her ankle and cuts around the evidence off the pillow case.

Once the rodent broke free of the last thread of the silk fabric from the evidence, she handled it with a pair of tweezers, stuffing it in a small glass evidence vial from the forensic kit and sealed it up with a cork.

Paulina strode out of the suite, giving the vial to a forensic investigator of the French police before regrouping with The Crew near the police line.

"Ah, Paulina! Did you manage to find anything?" Geronimo said.

"Lucky I did. I found some kind of dried up invisible stain on the pillow with the black light. I pawed it over to the French so the could analyze what it is," Paulina explained.

Not to be rude, but I had to interrupt them out of the blue. "Crew, I need you all down at the security room. There's something you need to see," I stressed.

"We'll be right down," Geronimo replied.

Once they took the elevator down, I heard and saw them enter the security room from behind us. Meanwhile, the three of us junior agents kept rewinding and playing the footage, watching it over and over with a French detective.

"Agent Stilton, it is a pleasure to meet you, and your team," the detective greeted in his French accent. "I am Detective André Gaston."

"Likewise, detective," Geronimo replied. "What do we have from the footage?"

"It is as what ze junior agents say, ze kidnappes were professional." All of them got closer to the monitors, where I was with Benjamin and Pandora. "Take a look.'

"Just like Hussein said, G. Kidnappers took the guards head on," I spoiled the video for him.

I started the playback. It showed the guards aiming at someone off camera at the halls. Then they came, attacking and knocking out the guards without sound and not even giving the guards a chance to fire a single shot. Then the kidnappers picked the locks of the suites, gaining access and dragged the guards in, closing the door.

"Masked... we can't get a facial recog out of those guys," Pandora concluded.

"Are there any cameras outside the building?" Geronimo asked.

"There are," Benjamin replied without turning around. "Two are present just outside at the pool, one facing the building and the other facing the fence."

He played the footage from the two seperate cameras. It showed the kidnappers climbing down the balconies of the suites at once, two of them carrying their targets on their shoulders. They made a run across the pool area once they made it to the ground. We shifted our focus to the second camera's feed, watching them jump the fence. At the other side was a van, with its tall roof just seen over it.. we saw its rear door on the right side open sideways when they were about to drop the two women in. That was when I paused and zoomed into the van.

"That's a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter," I indicated. I zoomed in further at the left rear door, enhanced the image, and found anotherr lead. "Sprinters have licence plate mounts on the left rear doors, so..." I explained as I did my magic. When the enhancement was done, we had a clear image of the licence plate, almost blockd by the fence. "There we have it. Suspect vehicle's plates.

"Have a BOLO issued, detective,' Geronimo requested. "This van could lead us to the women."

"Making ze call right now," said the detective, dialing while on his way out of the room.

'Benjamin, get a start on searching the plates in the French vehicle registration database."

"On it," Benjamin responded.

"Has the General Secretariat heard about the kidnapping?" I asked Geronimo.

"He has, through Hussein. I'm expecting a call from him, but I have no idea what it's about." Suddenly, the iPhone in his jacket pocket rang. Before we knew it, that was our cue. "Geronimo Stilton," he introduced when he answered. "Yes sir, I'm still at the hotel with my team. You want us at the main headquarters in Lyon? For an emergency meeting ASAP? Um... Benjamin, ETA."

He calculated quickly on his Ben Pad as the search was still in progress. "If we go Code 3 at a hundred and twenty-five miles an hour, we should ge there in less than three hours with current traffic."

"Less than three hours on Code 3 at a hundred twenty-five on the highways. "Yes, Hussein is still with me. I'm on my way." After he terminated the call, he announces: "Crew, time to leave. We've been called for an emergency meeting at Lyon. Pamela, have you seen Hussein?" But, there was no answer. "Pamela?"

"Pamela IS with Hussein," Violet told. "They're at the lobby."

"Then get Hussein to his Aston and get Pamela behind the wheel of Danny's Ghibli. We're going Code 3 all the way." He exited the room as we followed his lead.

"Road trip!" I announced.

* * *

**Interpol Headquarters - Lyon, France**

**1258 hours - 3 hours later **

We hurried up the building from the underground parking garage and proceeded to the conference room at the fifth floor. Geronimo and Hussein went in while the rest of us stayed outside and watched from a wall-mounted flatscreen.

The rest of us witnessed the meeting consisting the event's organizer, Roux, the French broadcasting team and the General Secretariat himself, Roland N. Kobel, taking the seat at the end of the light-colored wooded conference table.

"We apologize for being late and for keeping you all waiting," said Geronimo, pushing through the doors as he adjusted his collar.

"Nonsense, Agent Stilton. We entered the room just minutes before you did," the Secretariat forgave. "Take a seat."

They sat at the empty chairs opposite of Roux and Antoine. "Ladies and gentlemen, you have all been called here today for an emergency meeting. Our current agenda is to discuss the fate of the Interpol Women's Tactical Fashion Week following the dissapearence of two of its contestants, Charlene Evans and Melanie Johnson. Should we continue it or put it to a halt until we find them?"

Roux was the first to speak. "Sir, if I may..."

"Go ahead, Miss Roux."

"We should continue ze competition, Mr Secretariat. Ze people all over ze world have been excited and anticipated zis ever since it was announced."

Kobel turned to Geronimo. "Stilton, your view?"

"I'll have to say otherwise, sir. These people who have been kidnapped? They are veterans in their careers which means they've been holding a high position in their respective agencies long enough for them to keep government secrets. As well as the other competitors, they need to be in protective custody before they get taken."

"But sir, we cannot just put ze competition to a stop!" Roux defended her part of the argument. "It took us months just to plan zis. And remember ze hardwork we put into zis: ze agreement for ze broadcast with ze broadcasters, ze advertisements! And many more zat I cannot list!"

Geronimo decides to defend as well. "Have you split your cheese, Roux?! Those women hold government intel that if leaked to a hostile nation or a terrorist organisation, can threaten the national security of their country! The lives of millions are in their hands alone, do you know that?!"

"That's enough, the both of you!" Kobel said. "Now, if we can't get along and because we have different point of views, I say we vote. All In favor of continueing the competition say 'aye'."

"Aye," Roux uttered.

"Aye," Antoine supported.

"And I suppose that you two vote the opposite?" Kobel predicted, shifting to the two members of The Crew.

"Excatly, Mr Secretariat," Geronimo answered.

"Agent Stilton is both my leader and friend, sir. And as both, I should respect and support his idea. You have my answer, sir," Hussein said.

"So it's up to me to make the call, then. In that case, I choose that we get on with the competition," Kobel decided.

"What? But sir-" Geronimo protested.

"I can't be biased here, Stilton. Like it or not, Roux has a point. We've spent millions of the agency's budget in planning and getting this thing running and I'm not lettting all that go to waste. I know what is at stake in this situation, but in the same time we cannot let the tactical fashionistas out there get dissapointed."

"So what about the other contestasnts?" Geronimo brought up.

"I know you're concerned, Stilton. That's why I'm having you and your team to investigate around the disappearences of these women while in the same time show the prettiest face on international TV. Do you think you can manage that?"

"We'll do the best we can, sir," Geronimo assured.

"Good. Antoine, Roux - you two can leave."

"Thank you, sir," the both said simultaniously. They stood up and left the room.

"Stilton, get the rest of your team in here," the Secretariat requested.

We heard him wanting us in from the flatscren feed. So after the two French people went out, we went in.

"You requested us, Mr Secretariat?" Benjamin started.

"Indeed I did. Take a seat, all of you." We each grabbed a swivel chair close to Koble and got curious of what was the meeting's next agenda.

"What are we here for, Mr Secretariat?" I asked.

"You are here so we could discuss about how are we gonna protect the rest of the contestants for the competition," he explained. "As of last night, I believe that two guards aren't gonna cut it for the protection of the women. They've become possible targets for more possible kidnappings, and I say we take the security up a notch. Stilton, what type of security mesures are you going to propose?"

"Trippling the number of heavily-armed guards at the contestants' place of accommodation, the place where they design their gear, and at the event itself on all levels of the tower," Geronimo suggested.

"Do we need any men from GIGN?"

"If necessary. For their traveling safety, I advise that we use escorts, both on motorcycles and patrol cars, and for the competitiors, they would be chauffeured in a high-powered, armored limosines driven by a trustworthy Interpol agent. We'll cooperate with the French police for the escorts."

"Agreed," Kobel said. "Moving on. What has yout team concluded about the kidnappings so far?"

"Current forensic evidence tells us that the kidnappers were professionals," Pandora squeked up. "We've viewed the security footage and we saw that the victims' bodies were limp when they were carried down the balcony. Maybe they used chloroform or other types of sedatives to knock them out."

"Speaking of drugs, I think I may have found some on the pillow. I shone some black light on it, and a stain glowed," Paulina mentioned.

"These kidnappers got balls too, took those guards head on," Hussein added.

"We're currently trying to find out who they are and who're they possibly working for," I interrupted. "Good thing there were cameras by the pool and one of them managed to get the kidnappers' vehicle's make, model, and plates. Benjamin is still running them through."

A beep came from Benjamin's Ben Pad. "And they just got back. The plates don't exist within the database."

"Fake plates," Geronimo muttered, sounding dissapointed. "All we can do now is hope that the BOLO results turn up positive,"

"Do you detect any MOs?" the Secretariat asked.

"Not yet," Nicky started. "There are a lot of terrorist organizations that use fake plates, drugs, and don't leave any traces in kidnappings,"

"What about ze van itself? Mercedes is German," Colette came up with an idea.

"What do you have against German cars?" Thea asked.

"I am not finished. Audi is also German. Remember what organization uses Audis as their prefered vehicles?"

Violet started to get the idea. "Wait... you don't mean-"

"Yes, I am Violet! The Technologists don't just drive Audis, they prefer anything German! Even back then. Thea, Danny told me that you saw a black Sprinter van in ze car park back in Malaysia when you were nearly killed in an attempted car bombing. Do you remember zat?"

I took a split second to reach into the archives for that. The day when Thea and I went to the KL tower for grubs. I remember having a bad feeling, about the Charger exploding. I did see it in the background, a black Merc Sprinter.

I got back to reality. "Yeah, I do," I confirmed.

"So, what you're saying, Colette, that from this, The Technologists might be back?" Kobel said.

"Precisely," Collete replied.

"But what are the chances of that? Geronimo, Hussein, and his team saw McCarran International's Concourse D collapse while Danny and Williams were inside!" Pam theorized. "There's no way the leader of The Technologists survived the Force Maelstorm!"

"No wonder Prof. Philips contacted me to tell Danny to be extra cautious four hours ago..." I heard the Secretariat mumbled. "Alright, back to the kidnapping. How'd the kidnappers know where the contestants stayed at? We didn't leak this in the press."

"I suspect that it was an inside job, sir," Geronimo deduced. "No one outside the involvement of the event has information about this."

"Then I want that mole exposed ant exterminated before anymore of the women go missing," Kobel ordered. "As for the escorts, have them alerted about Audis. If they see black new-gen Audis driving in groups, take evasive action."

"Yes, sir," Geronimo obeyed.

"The next thing I want to know about is have you discovered who the woman is?"

"The one Danny claimed planted a device at the Eiffel Tower? No, unfortunately."

"(Sigh) That will be all. Keep me posted of any leads you find."

"What are you going to tell the press about this?"

"I'll deal with them."

We stood up and exited the conference room. "The Technologists...return. How?" I said as we all huddled at the door.

"Zat was just a theory. Maybe I am right...maybe I am wrong," Colette squeaked.

"Even if they are returning, who's leading them?" Trap questioned. "For all we know, Williams perished in the Force Maelstrom."

"Copycats, maybe?" Thea said. "Many Brits were under Williams' influence, especially the ones who knew British and American history as well as extremists. They knew what was his objective, and decided to form The Technologists 2.0."

"And even if he survived... How?" Benjamin asked.

"I don't want to know... C'mon, let's just go home," I interrupted, trying to change the topic.

"Indeed..." Geronimo agreed.

* * *

"I can't believe that Melanie and Charlene are gone!" Flash exclaimed. We had a video call session in the car on the way home, with Benjamin too. Fortunate enough, Pandora fell asleep so we could discuss about the talent show in the open.

"We know..." I said.

"Is Interpol still gonna run the competition while they're missing?"

"Yeah. Uncle G said we should stop, but considering that we've put a lot of effort into this, General Secretariat decided we should continue," Benjamin summarised. "We're looking into this as the competition runs."

"Oh... Anyway, will you guys still be able to make it back to practice?"

"Probably an hour late," I informed.

"I'll be waiting then..."

We terminated the session, yet we kept Terra and my Quattroporte's comms on. "I'm bored..." I complained.

"Me too," Benjamin said. "Up for a game of I Spy?"

"Sure..."

"You start."

"I spy...with my little bionic eye..."

* * *

**Enjoyed it? If you did, don't forget to comment and share this with other Geronimo Stilton fans!**


	10. Chapter 10-Night Three: Woodland

**A/N: Hello again readers! Malaysianpro back with the tenth chapter of Trouble In France! First of all, sorry for the delay... I had a test last week so I was focused on my studies. So, with that said, I present you this new chapter!**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters and/or stories will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Night Three: Woodland**

**Eiffel Tower**

**1915 hours - 15 minutes till event**

Came the time for the third night to start. It was a rush hour for the people all over the area of the tower; the technical crew busy making sure the lights were bright enough, the microphones and cameras working and perfectly functional, both broadcasters testing satelite signal strengths for smooth streaming, the catering company busy setting up the buffet table, and the guests whe came late grabbing whichever empty seats they could.

Meanwhile in the Stilton Media Group's broadcasting booth, we were busy checking our own equipment in order to run the program without any mishaps. "Comms fully operting, standby for mic check," I initiated. "Starting with Colette, go."

All of their amplified squeaks echoed at the bottom of the tower from loud speakers, one by one...

Except for Geronimo's. "Danny, my mic's not working. I think there's something wrong with the battery," he radioed.

"Pandora," I signaled, snapping my fingers. Why I chose her is because she could sprint fast.

"On it," she replied immediately, grabbing a spare 9 volt battery on her way out.

We watched her go from inside the glass booth, running around the seats to the stage at speeds comparable to Usian Bolt's, with full of grace.

I blew out a long whistle. "That is a one-of-a-kind girl you fell for, huh Benjamin?"

"Yeah..." he said, mesmerised. "Seeing her do something unique just makes me fall in love with her more." I turned to look at him, seeing that he was still looking watching her from afar.

"Ah, so you do have a thing with Pandora!" Trap chimed.

The lovestruck mouselet finally switched attention. "Yeah... just don't blow the secret to her. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for her."

"What surprise?"

"You know that we celebrate the anniverary of the day we first met by giving each other gifts, right?"

"Yeah?"

"That day is when I'll give her the best surprise gift yet. I'm proposing to her so she'd be my girlfriend at the school's annual spring talent show next Monday as a part of my performance."

"Then I wish you the best of luck, loverboy," Trap teased with a French accent in the last word.

"Thanks..." Benjamin responded, seeming to not even care about the joke. "Wait a second, did we just talked about this with the comms turned on?"

I gasped in sarcasm. "No, we didn't," I said, etching an annoying smile on my face.

"Benjamin sighed out in relief. "Thank goodness..."

"Sound check - testing, one, two, three..." Geronimo tested his mic, his muffled squeaks piercing the glass booth.

"Alright, G. Beautiful," I said. "Okay, Pandora. Time for you to get back here and help your boy- ...uh... best friend with the visuals."

"On my way," she responded.

"Hey Pandora, bet 'cha can't get back here faster than thrity seconds!" Trap challenged.

"Oh, you're on!"

Out of nowhere, an unexpected guest showed up. 'Guys, got a minute?" asked Hussein. As the judge, he was wearing a formal black suit.

"Hussein!' I exclamied, all of us looking back towards the entrance. "Uh, I think we do... since we've done checking our equipment and all... Sooo...yeah! What's up?"

"I just got a call from the French 5-0. Told me to pass the info down to you as soon as I got it."

"What about?" I slowly began to stand up from my seat.

He proceeded while still hanging at the doorway. "You remember the Megáne we found? Guess what they found stuck on the headreast."

"Surprise me."

"A lock of pure blonde hair." To be honest, I was pleased. "French forensics are still running the DNA through their database. The results should be back in about twelve hours."

"Whoever planted that device is ours now."

"For sure."

Pandora made it back in time, and snuck into the booth under the tall man's arms. "How'd I do?" she asked, panting lightly but still managed to not break a sweat.

"Right on time," Benjamin declared, looking at his digital watch. "With one second to spare."

"Take that, Trap." She looked at him with self-pride, and him rolling his eyes.

As Pandora returned to her chair, Hussein and I continued our conversations. "So, is that all?" I asked.

"That, and I'm here to see how you're feeling," he said.

"Well... so far so good."

"And better keep it at that constant. You won't have anything to worry; the tower is swarming with GIGN."

I gave him a nod, then glanced at my watch. "Dude, five minutes till we go live."

"Oh, shoot! Gotta run!" He leaves the scene, jogging to the judges table. It was weird though - he's Malaysian, I'm Malaysian, and we haven't spoken to each other in Malay for a long time.

"Standby for visuals," I alerted the team.

* * *

After the next 4 minutes and 15 seconds, we made our final and last minute preps for the broadcast.

"Everything is in order, Roux," I reported.

"Great, start ze countdown," she said.

"Alright, Crew. Smile into the camera and say cheese because we are going live in five, four, three, two!"

After a few short sponsor acknowledgements in the form of commercials, the programming starts. As music played, so does the montage. At the end of it all, the logo moves from off-screen and stops at the middle. At the background, the camera feed from the crane was displayed, then the logo faded away, revealing Geronimo and Thea on the stage at the end of the catwalk.

_**Geronimo: Good evening ladies and gentlemen around the world! You are now tuning in to the Interpol Women's Tactical Fashion Week brought to you live from the Eiffel Tower by the Stilton Media Group in collaboration with France Télévisions. I am your host, Geronimo Stilton...**_

_**Thea: Along with me, his sister, Thea Stilton...**_

_**Geronimo: Welcome to the third night of the fashion week.**_

_**Thea: Where we will see more tactical gear designs from our aspiring contestants. So be prepared to see more guns and gadgets for the next two hours.**_

_**Geronimo: Correct, but... Not from all our contestants. Just earlier today, the whole world was shocked by the news of two of the event's designers being abducted from their hotel suites during midnight last night.**_

_**Thea: Interpol in the meantime has their best investigators to find those women in collaboration with the French police and the FBI.**_

_**Geronimo: But for now, their absence tonight has made the organizers make a decision to disqualify them.**_

_**Thea: Until they are found, let us all hope and prey that they are alive.**_

_**Geronimo: But for tonight, the show must go on. Squeaking of tonight, our camouflage pattern this time is woodland!**_

_**Thea: This pattern is used widely by countries with large areas forests and jungles which consists of wood, mud, and leaves. Patterns like this provide optical cover from sight of enemies in the area's low canopies.**_

_**Thea: Interpol will find this useful for their field agents assigned for drug raids on labs situated in the remote woodlands of Malaysia, Peru, Indonesia, Columbia, and other countries alike.**_

_**Geronimo: We'll see the gear that our remaining competitors have designed after a martial arts display put together by one of GIGN's elite task forces.**_

_**Thea: For that, don't go anywhere because we'll be right back after these messages in this short break.**_

_**Geronimo: Stay tuned.**_

* * *

One hour in and the night went smooth so far at that night. GIGN put an amazing display before the designs were presented, and the ones from first two designers looked fabulous. The broadcast was running as planned with no mishaps, as well for the event itself. No anomalies in safety were reported from GIGN nor Interpol, and no ripples in the Force were felt. Not yet at least.

Then came Julie's turn to present her designs. Julie herself was wearing a woodland camouflage dress at the time, and we all thought that she liked to go with the theme. She started of with a few acknowledgements to the sponsors, organizers, etc...

Then it happened.

I sat on the producer's chair, watching and waiting for her to present her combat gear in excitement. She called her models out from backstage, five for each class of gear. They appeared marching on the catwalk like soldiers, having their disabled primary weapons in their arms. As they did, a slight chill, a tingle ran down my spine and giving me small goosebumps.

That was a sign of something wrong.

I stood up and watched through the glass, staring at the models one by one. I wasn't sweating, I wasn't having difficulty breathing - I even checked my pulse - my heartbeat rate wasn't climbing. So I decided to classify the disturbance as a Level I disturbance; clue-giving.

The Force was definitely telling me something; the way it made me want to go to the stage... It was attracting me there.

I played an important role as producer at that time. I fought the urges, and returned to my seat without any word before any suspicions rose.

* * *

The night felt short. Before we even knew it, the broadcast was already over with Lily MacArthur winning the Woodland night - her choice of camouflage type was fairly unique; digital tiger woodland.

The tower was practically deserted in 15 minutes of the end of the event. The first ones to leave were the designers themselves, in individual presidential-graded Mercedes-Benz S600s escorted by the French police's Yamahas, Opel Astra OPCs and Renault Mégane RSs.

At the moment, about half an hour after the end credits rolled, The Crew huddled back at the van to discuss about the kidnapping, including Hussein. "Did anything come back from the French yet?" Geronimo asked.

"Nothing from the BOLO yet, but I'm expecting that it was ditched somewhere. The cops are taking and initiative by tracking the van down through traffic cams," Benjamin explained.

"Squeaking of traffic cams, what about the Renault?" Hussein asked. "Did they find the driver or the car in any of them?"

"Unfortunately not. Whoever she was, she was good at avoiding them."

"What about the escape ropes?" Geronimo continued.

"The French forensics couldn't have picked a better time to call me during the broadcast," Pandora squeaked. "They told me that they've found nothing on them except traces of nylon. Indicates that the abductors were wearing gloves. Sadly, no DNA was found."

"And the stains on the pillow case?"

"From their tox report, it was indeed a drug. Suspected that the stain was created when the victim had a little struggle on the bed and the person holding the syringe must've pushed the plunger a little bit."

"Sedative?" said Paulina, the Mouse who found it in the first place.

"Mm-hmm. But this one is unusual. There were traces of two types of sedatives. Diazepam and lorazepam, or known for their market name, Valium and Ativan respectively."

"How can there be two traces?" Thea asked, crossing her arms.

"It was a mixture - a compound. The compound is new and it was created specifically to be used in this abduction."

"So it's Valiativan?" Colette came up with a name.

"I like Ativalium better," Trap renamed.

"Why would the kidnappers need this compound when either drug is enough?" Geronimo returned to the topic. He returns a paw on his chin.

"Actually, it isn't. The effects from only one of them won't quite do the trick. Diazepam is used to treat people with mild anxiety disorders and its tranquillising effects last longer. Lorazepam however is used to treat people with worse cases - it's a quick-acting drug and immediately knocks out the person who takes it."

"So they cook this custom drug to have both drugs effects; quick-acting so the victim doesn't squirm for her life during the kidnapping, and a long-lasting effect so the victim doesn't wake up early and figure out where the kidnappers took them," Hussein summarised.

"Exactly," Pandora agreed.

"What's the availability of these drugs in France?" Geronimo asked.

"Ativan and Valium are prescription drugs. They are illegal to own to those without a licence or a prescription from a doctor. The only way to acquire these legally is from as said, doctor's prescription and they're most stored in hospitals."

"What about illegal?"

I answered on Pandora's behalf. "Where else? The Deep Web!"

"The Deep Web?" Pamela wondered, tilting her head in curiosity.

Paulina explains. "The darker side of the internet. It's actually a search term referring to the content of the World Wide Web not indexed by normal search engines like Google."

"You know the websites you use everyday like Facebook?" Benjamin added, sitting at the back of the van with a knee lifted up to his chin. "That's only the Surface Web. There is much, much more going on in the Deep Web."

"Imagine the internet as an iceberg," I continued. "On the top, just a façade of small island of ice. That's the Surface Web, four percent of the internet, about eight million websites. But underwater, a huge chunk of ice. That's the Deep Web, 96 percent of the internet."

"What goes down in there?" Pamela asked, looking at Paulina.

"Everything, including illegal," Paulina answered, shifting her balance on one leg.

"We're talking about illegal weapons trade, coin laundering, drug trade, hitmen for hire..." Hussein explained.

"And human trafficking," Pandora said.

"How do we access it?" Geronimo interjected.

"It can't be accessed by just any browser like Chrome or Firefox," Paulina told. "There's a special browser for the Deep Web."

"It's called the Tor Browser, it stands for The Onion Router," Benjamin said. "It keeps the anonymity of the user and protects privacy from internet surveillance agencies like the NSA. It also makes it hard to track down IP addresses."

"So what's our plan, Geronimo?" Hussein asked.

He took a second to think. "We pose as buyers," he said. "We browse around the Deep Web find the people who sells the drugs. We set up a deal, meet the dealer face to face. We trap him, bring him into custody, interrogate the dealer about who he last sold the drugs to."

"Find the dealer, find the buyer," Violet concluded.

"Find the buyer, find the women," Nicky added.

"Great. Who amongst us here has the browser?" Hussein queried.

"Me, Benjy, Pandora, and Paulina," I answered on behalf.

"But, if we're talking about going into the Deep Web, it's not gonna be easy," Benjamin gave a heads up.

"How difficult is it?" Geronimo wondered.

Benjamin let's his leg down. "Not that much. But with the network signal jumping from server to server in how-many-countries-we-don't-know makes the page to take a long time to load. I'm talking from half a minute to ten minutes. We don't have that kinda time."

"But there is a way to speed it up by redirecting the signal to jump lesser and to the nearest servers if we're gonna run the deal at the soonest possible time," I said. "And that's the hard part, even for my standards. It's gonna take about a team of five to six hackers to do it, even with me trying to speed it up with my chip. The more hackers with skill, the better."

"So far, there are only four of us," Paulina pointed out. "Me, and these three kids."

"Where are we going to find the other two?" said Nicky, hopeless.

"I did have a feeling that we would need computer expertise," I began. "So I called in some help from the only girl in The Rodent's Gazette who's IT knowledge is almost the same as mine."

"Who?" Trap said.

"Pinky Pick."

Geronimo's eyes widened. "What? You're not being serious are you?"

"I am."

"Oh no..." Just like what he described in his books, Pinky can be annoying at times. To Geronimo.

"Oh, come on G! She's not that annoying," Thea said.

"She's right," I supported. "We need all the help we can get. And she's one of the best hackers I know."

The orange-furred mouse could only sigh. "If she means any help... When is she arriving?"

"I arranged her a flight. She'll be landing in Charles de Gaulle in an Interpol Gulfstream in six hours."

He nods in acknowledgement. "Right, tomorrow, we wake up in the early morning, about 5.30. We head out to Lyon to investigate further about the abduction and to find out who the mole is. Danny, since you're close to her, you'll do the honors of picking up Pinky and bringing her to Interpol when she lands in France. Right now, I just want to go back to the château and throw myself on my bed."

"Me too," I said.

"I'm beat..." Thea followed.

"I feel like sleeping for a week," Pandora stated, collapsing in the back of the van.

"Welp, c'mon. Time to hit the hay," Hussein said.

We hopped into our cars and let them do the driving, as we all slept all the way home.


	11. Chapter 11 - Tech(nological) Support

**A/N: What is up? Malaysianpro back with another exciting chapter of Trouble In France! This time we bring in the hackers to the story to give The Crew some assistance-**

**Thea: Don't cha think that you're giving too much spoilers away?**

**Malaysianpro: ...I'm really not good at coming up with summaries, am I?**

**Thea: (Shakes head) Nope.**

**Malaysianpro: (Sighs) I really gotta either learn or stop doing summaries.**

**Thea: (Nods) Yup.**

**Malaysianpro: Well! I hope that you readers enjoy this chapter as well as the rest of the story. I'll just leave y'all to it while Thea and I go have some cheese. _Au revoir!_**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters and/stories will be implemented here.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Tech(nological) Support**

**Interpol Headquarters - Lyon, France**

**Thursday - March 27, 2014**

**0615 hours**

It was the second day of the investigation. All of us had forced ourselves to wake up early (including me, because I had trouble keeping away the nightmares again), compensate the cold water with the heater in our showers, and clothed ourselves in warm threads. I chose to wear my usuals though, because I was getting used to to the cold weather after living for years in the tropical weather of Malaysia. Just another red plaid button shirt over an olive green tee, and a pair of denim jeans with Converse sneakers.

As told by Geronimo, because I was the one who called Pinky for help, he had me to pick her up at Charles de Gaulle Airport and bring her to Interpol HQ while the rest of The Crew travel straight there.

Just before we continue, let me tell you a bit about Pinky. She is what she is as described by Geronimo in his books; an IT genius, a child genius, and is annoying (to Geronimo). It was true how she was employed in The Rodent's Gazette in the first place as explained in Geronimo's nineteenth book (I can't believe Geronimo signed her job application form by accident). But, not everything about her in the books are true. Geronimo told me that he takes liberties when producing his books, and made up some facts.

The differences about Pinky in the books and the real deal are that she wasn't fourteen when she was hired - she was nine years old. And get this; she was a fresh graduate out of high school when it happened, and earned her college degree in journalism and computer science two years after that. Her outfit also differs from the books; she still has her yellow hoodie, but she wears a denim miniskirt just like Pandora (only it's pink), she wears green tights, and she doesn't wear platform sneakers. She wears pink Converse sneakers that are size 10 instead of 12 (she has bigger feet than mine, and they're size 9) and they don't have pink plastic fish swimming in the soles of them.

And this is the information about her that I've gathered after knowing her for a few months: she was born in September 1999 (which means that she would be in the same age as me, 14), lives in the same street as Grandpa Shortpaws, and she actually does live up to her name. Everything she owns is pink! Her iPhone 5C, her computer backpack, her gaming laptop's keyboard backlight is pink, and she even had Geronimo to order from Apple a custom-painted pink iMac at the office. She's nearly the same as Pandora in terms of personality; feminine, girly, and she keeps up popular trends. She is semi-adventurous, and has a wide knowledge of just about everything, and we could get into long talks about what we're both interested in if any of us mention them. Internet memes. Especially those. And she's one of the few people I told about the microchip and being a Jedi.

We were already on our way down in the elevator to the Operations Command room in the underground levels. That room was built special for The Crew as a gift from Kobel for taking down The Technologist and it is for us to use to direct missions which requires tactical strategy. So far, this is the first time we've used it since it was first built.

"I'm pretty sure that that was a camouflaged 2015 Porsche Macan mule we saw on the A6, Danny," Pinky brought up. We saw a camouflaged Porsche SUV on our way, and we couldn't let go of the topic what model it was.

"High possibility, but why would it have the Cayenne's rear lamps?" I said.

"It's a test mule, they'd put anything on it to confuse people. Especially combined with the rear licence plate mount on the bumper, what's up with that?"

"I know, right? Did you get to see the front? I couldn't turn around 'cause I was driving."

"I did. The center grille was bigger than the Cayenne's. It couldn't be it, could it?"

"I couldn't agree more."

The elevator stopped the decent, and its doors opened for us, revealing The Crew's Operations Command. The room was big as a small house's interior, about 2400 sq feet. The floor was entirely metal plated over concrete as well as the walls and the ceiling like a spaceship's interior, the room's corners weren't sharp edges, instead they were flat for a octagonal design. At the center, there was a table with a 85-inch tabletop touchscreen computer, and its large base was planted into the ground, and all of it was raised by a single platform. At the wall opposite of the elevator, mounted a 130-inch monitor displaying a map of France.

Everyone of The Crew turned around towards us when the doors slid open. "Welcome to our Operations Command," I welcomed her.

Everyone she ever wanted to meet was there. The Thea Sisters, and Hussein.

"Oh my gosh! It's so honored to meet you all!" Pinky exclaimed. She ran out the elevator as i followed after her, and gave everyone a hug, including Hussein.

"It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Miss Pick," Hussein said as the shorter mouse gave him a tight but unnoticeable squeeze.

After the meet and greet, we continued. "So, I heard that you guys needed my help," Pinky started, wearing her backpack down and making her way to the computer desk.

"We do," Geronimo replied.

She brought the pack onto the table. "Accessing the Deep Web are we?"

"Yeah," Paulina said. "We need to speed up the signal's connecting speed and make it jump lesser network servers in the nearest countries."

"I can do that," Pinky said, taking out her Alienware laptop onto the table. "Have we got the five to six hackers?"

"You're the fifth," I told her.

She glanced at me. "And the other four?"

"Me, Benjamin, Pandora and Paulina."

She nods as she starts up her laptop and its keyboard's backlight lights up pink while the four of us went to fetch our computers. "So, you guys need to find a drug dealer from the Deep Web?"

"Yup," said Thea. "We're gonna pose as buyers, set up a deal, trap the dealer, bring him in for questioning so we could identify who he sold the drug last to."

"This is about the kidnapping of the designers, isn't it?" she asked.

"So you've heard," Hussein said, raising an eyebrow while his arms crossed.

She types in the password to her computer. "I watched the news... Plus, I work in a media group."

Hussein rolled his eyes, smiling.

As we returned to the table, she boots up a hacking program to decrypt the Wi-Fi passcode because she didn't bother to ask for it. "Danny told me that you guys were on the case of locating the missing women, and provide protection details to the remaining designers."

"We are. And we're in our first phase," Geronimo said.

She brought out an HDMI cable from her pack and inserted one end into a port on her computer, and the other into a port under the tabletop. Instantly, the display from her laptop casted onto the monitor, taking up half the space.

"I'm plugged in and connected," she declared. "So, while the other four hackers start up their computers and connect to mine via Bluetooth, might I ask which one of us will go undercover?"

Everyone exchanged clueless looks to each other. "To be honest, I didn't see that one coming," Violet said.

"Then we have a problem," Pinky pointed out. "Obviously, Benjamin, Pandora, Danny, and I can't because we're teenagers! And the rest of you can't because you've all appeared in international television."

"What about Trap?" Geronimo optioned, pointing a thumb towards him.

"He can't do it either."

"Why not?"

"Don't you realize that Trap is internationally famous? He hosts a YouTube channel which consists of hidden camera prank videos and it gathers millions of international audience. So far, he's gained 979,465 subscribers since the beginning of last year. Even uploads it to The Rodent's Gazette's website as a part of a web show."

Geronimo arched his eyebrows. " I... never check the site. Benjamin moderates it all."

Pinky let out a disappointed sigh. "Then I suggest that you better call someone that hasn't appeared on international TV and someone who you could really put your trust on."

I had a sudden thought. " I think I know who..."

"Who?" Geronimo said.

"Remember Brock Russell?"

"Russell? The former terrorist double agent whom we chased for years? Yes," Thea answered. Brock Russell was Interpol's most wanted #8 back in the day. He worked for multiple terrorist organisations as an intelligence gatherer for hire. Once he received his payment, he betrays the organisation he worked for by leaking everything he knows about them to Interpol, and disappears. He was arrested eventually in The Crew's first adventure in Malaysia after working for The Technologists, and was sentenced to work for Interpol as a special agent in the Intelligence Department.

"Russell? How can we be sure that we can really trust him?" Colette squeaked, suspicious.

"Believe me, he's repented. I've been communicating with him from time to time, and I think he's finally given up on his criminal days after his new wife shown up."

Geronimo quickly took out his iPhone out of his jacket. "If that's case, I'll be on the phone with him right now," he said, scrolling through his contacts list.

Meanwhile, we were still connecting our laptops with Pinky's. "Hey Danny, I think I'm gonna head up for a minute," Benjamin said. "I think I left my charger up in the car."

"Go ahead," I permitted. With a quick thanks, he went to the elevator.

Then Pandora rushed to the bathroom located at the corner left of the screen.

"I just remembered..." Paulina uttered, "...that...I...was supposed to check the server room's thermostat to make sure the servers are cool enough. Back in a sec!" She turned around and entered the server room through a glass push door after having her iris scanned. Then she disappeared out of view when she walked in between the rows of database servers.

I was left alone with Pinky at the computer table. Odd.

"Hey Dan..." Pinky started softly.

"Yeah, Pinky?"

She shyly turned towards me. "I'm...really glad that you weren't turning Sith."

"Benjamin told you that?"

"Yeah... You had me worried when he broke out the news that you used a dark power on Punk Rat. I couldn't sleep with thoughts shrouding. I was afraid if you did, will you be able to remember me or any of us?"

I smiled. "It's great to know that someone cares about me. Thanks."

She blushed, but she was good at hiding it. "You're welcome... Any new powers?"

"Some, but too dangerous to demonstrate in here. Mostly dark powers."

**Geronimo's Perspective**

I went to the lounge of the room at one of the corners and sat down on the black sofa as Russell's phone kept ringing. "Brock Russell speaking," Russell answered lazily in his deep croaky British accent. He sounded like he was still in bed.

"Russell, it's me," I introduced.

"Stilton?" he replied, surprised. "It's been a while... How are things?"

"It's been great, I hope it's the same with you... Listen, I really hate to bother you right now, but the team and I need your help. Where are you?"

"I'm at my home in Nice... still in bed with the wife, by the way."

I felt embarrassed. I always do if I bother someone in bed, especially with a spouse. "Oh... Then I really am sorry for disturbing you... You - you're not doing what I think you're doing, are you?"

"What? No. What is it that you need help with?"

It took a moment for me to sink the embarrassment in. So I cleared my throat. "We're... planning to set up a drug deal and trap the dealer so we can take him into custody for interrogation, but my team has no one to pose as the buyer because all of us have shown up on international TV and most of them are children."

There was no reply for a second. "This, I believe, is about the missing competitors of the Interpol Women's Tactical Fashion Week, am I right?"

"Yes... it is."

"What sort of drug did you find at the crime scene?

"Well... hard to explain, actually. French forensic found traces of Diazepam and Lorazepam in a mixture, chemically bonded as a compound."

"Valium and Ativan..."

"We're trying to find some who sells them in the Deep Web-"

I was cut off. "Wait... did you say the Deep Web?" Russell said, fancying the topic.

"Uh... yes...?"

"Are you planning to hack inside the Deep Web?"

"Yes... maybe...? I'm not a tech expert, but the computer geniuses said that they're going to try speeding up the connection buy redirecting signal to the nearest servers-"

Once again, I was interrupted. Oh, how I hate it when people interrupt me squeaking!

"Tell them to wait! Don't start without me."

"Uh... sure...?"

"I'll be there soon..." I heard through the earpiece that he was wiggling himself out of bed, "...on Code 3."

"Affirmative. We'll see you soon." Then we both hung up.

* * *

**My Perspective**

**0820 hours**

It had been over 2 hours waiting for Russell after Geronimo told us to wait for him. We, in the Operations Command, were forced to wait for him and we decided to do anything we can to kill our boredom. Leaving our laptops turned on, Benjamin, Pandora, and Paulina went to do some shooting at the indoor range located at the right of the monitor behind a layer of bulletproof glass, Geronimo grabbed a Harry Potter book and read it at the lounge, Trap had been snacking at the mini kitchen for the past half an hour after taking a snooze, whereas Hussein, Thea and her students just talked and told stories about their past, whilst Pinky and I never left the computer table and I had been giving her lessons on how to speak German. Sure, she squeaks in 19 languages, but not any of it was German.

We shared earphones, me wearing the right and her wearing the left, I took an incentive and taught her the language by listening to a song; Moskau by Dschinghis Khan.

"_Auf dein wohl, bruder hey! Bruder ho!_" We both sang in German. "_Moskau, Moskau, wirf die gläser an die wand, Rußland ist ein schönes land, ho ho ho ho ho, hey!_

"_Moskau, Moskau, deine seele ist so groß, nachts da ist der Teufel los, ha ha ha ha ha, hey!_

"_Moskau, Moskau, liebe schmeckt wie kaviar, mädchen sind zum küssen da, ho ho ho ho ho, hey!_

"_Moskau, Moskau, komm wir tanzen auf dem tisch, bis der tisch zusammenbricht, ha ha ha ha ha, hey!_"

The song ended, but I intentionally spoke in German to test her. "_Damit, du sprecht Deutsch jetzt?_" I said.

"_Ja, aber nur Grundkenntnisse der deutschen. Ich kann Wörter richtig auszusprechen, wenn._ I know I have a lot to learn, but I know that you'll get me there."

"I'll make sure you do," I assured, crossing my arms. "And you learn fast, that's good."

"_Danke_..."

"Next lesson, insults."

"What?! You are SO horrible!" she said sarcastically.

"Hey, you'll never know when you need it to tell off inconsiderate mice without them understanding, or to swear when you have to without the people around you knowing."

"Do you really think that I have an issue?"

I slowly swiveled my head towards her. "I heard and still remember that you swore in Russian when that Camaro nearly rammed us head to head when I drove you home from work two weeks ago," I pointed out.

"Did you have to bring that up?"

"To prove my point..."

Then Geronimo was interrupted in the middle of his reading by a phone call. Ringing and vibrating on the glass coffee table, he marked his page, glanced at the caller ID and picked it up. "Russell! Where are you? The parking lot? Get to the lobby, I'll wait for you there." He hung up and rose from the sofa, laying his book down. "Hackers, get ready with your programs and equipment. Russell's here, I'll be at the lobby to show him the way here."

"We'll wait..." I said as he marched his way to the elevator. He readied himself as the doors slid close, and the elevator ascended.

"Ex-Technologist spy, huh?" Pinky recalled from what I've told her.

"Ex-spy, he was the world's greatest young driver in his car syndicate days when he was 16 until he lost the title to me, but I never knew that he was a hacker."

* * *

Geronimo came back down with Russell after 2 minutes past as everyone gathered around the computer table. We turned around as the elevator doors revealed the man and mouse.

"Hello everyone," said the tall late 40s man with a wave and a bright smile. Russell was wearing all black, from his leather jacket to his black denim jeans. The only things that weren't black on him was his skin and hair; white. He carried a laptop bag on his right shoulder. "It's great to see you all."

Everyone who was friendly with him greeted him while calling him Brock (the Thea Sisters did), and the rest just treated him as a colleague and greeted him by calling him Russell. But actually, he didn't care what people called him. Just as long as he was called by his name.

He came in to our Operations Command, and Colette and Nicky cleared the way for Russell to get to the computer table. "Wow... I was told stories about your Operations Command, but I never expected this," Russell said, looking around the room.

I looked at him with a warm smile, and he noticed me. "Happy to see you on our side, Russell," I said, reaching out a hand for a bro shake.

His hand met mine. "I was done being bad when my wife found out, you should thank her."

He then notices Pinky. "You must be Miss Pick," he said. "I've heard stories about you too."

"Likewise, Agent Russell," Pinky replied.

"It's a pleasure, anyways."

He began setting up shop by taking out his MacBook Pro on the table and turned it on. "So, what are we doing in the Deep Web?"

"We're trying to make our network signal jump less servers and in the nearest countries so we can get a shorter loading time for one page," I explained.

"Otherwise it's up to ten minutes per page..." Russell added, nodding, fully understanding the situation.

His computer finally started up and displayed the desktop. "Alright, whose computer is it that's going browse the Deep Web?"

"Mine," Pinky informed.

Russell connected his MacBook to her Asus. "I'm connected. Now, we need to jump at least ten servers to keep our anonymity. Miss Pick, do you have a software that tracks down your own connection?"

"I...don't. Unfortunately."

"Well, that's gonna be a problem."

"Don't worry, we have an alternative," Paulina proposed. "The database servers keep track of what is connected to our network and archives it. If it connects and jumps the servers, we should be able to keep track of it."

"Can you display it on the map on the screen here?"

"Sure, let me retrieve it." Paulina leaned closer to the screen of the computer table and popped up a virtual keyboard and a command prompt. She typed in a few lines of commands briefly, then a pinpoint location of our network connection appeared on the map of the monitor.

"Great work, Polly," Russell praised. "Prepare to boot the browser, Miss Pick. The rest of us, get ready to code... And watch the map to where the signal connects to. Okay, is everyone ready?"

"As ever," Paulina replied, locking her vision at her laptop screen.

"Ready!" Benjamin and Pandora chorused.

"I am if you are," Pinky muttered until only I could hear her. She slowly turned her head towards me.

I looked at her back. "We're all ready, Russell."

"Alright, Miss Pick. Boot the browser," Russell initiated.

Pinky double-clicked on the Tor browser icon and its window showed up on her desktop. She quickly minimized it and returned to the command prompt.

"Booted," Pinky reported.

"Alright, where is it going?" Russell wondered, as the pin on the map faded grey in color, indicated that the connection was no longer connected at Lyon.

"It left for South Africa," Paulina alerted.

"Get it to jump at Spain," he ordered. We inserted command lines altogether and inserted them into Pinky's terminal with Bluetooth. It took a few seconds.

A red pin marked the signal on the map. "Signal connected to Spain," Pinky said.

"Great. Where is heading it now?" Russell asked.

I checked the map. "China."

"Have it redirected to Switzerland."

We did our magic and tapped the keys on the board and got the connection back in Europe. "We're in Switzerland," Pinky alarmed.

"Two down, nine to go," Russell reminded.

"Now it's going to Germany," Pandora announced.

"Let it connect, we're targeting European servers," Russell permitted.

We halted for a few seconds before we resumed operation. "Connected to the German server," said Pinky.

"Don't look know, its heading to Canada," Benjamin informed.

"We can't have that. Get it to Ireland," Russell ordered.

We hacked some more and made progress, but it wasn't easy. "This is a tough one, boosting more code with the chip," I said.

A few more seconds of coding, and we had the connection to where we wanted to. "Ireland connected," Pinky declared.

"Good work. Danial, location?" Russell demanded. He's the third person who ever calls me Danial.

"It's in Australia," I answered.

"Connect it to Sweden."

We were halfway in the Deep Web. "Connected," Pinky squeaked.

"Nice. Now, is it somewhere in Europe?"

"It is," Paulina confirmed. "But it's reconnecting to the French server."

"No, that's way to early. Get to jump Spain again," said the expert.

With the rest of The Crew watching behind our backs, we successfully connected to four other European servers; England, Austria, Italy, and Norway.

"Norway connected. That's ten servers, chief," Pinky counted, nicknaming Russell.

"Good work, everyone," Russell congratulated. "Let's bring the signal back to France."

We had the signal connected back in France. "There you go. We now have full access to the Deep Web," Russell said.

"Thank you very much for your help, Russell," Geronimo expressed his gratitude.

Russell nodded at his words. "Don't mention it."

Moving on, Pinky hovered her paws on the keyboard, getting ready to type something in the search field. "Alright, what did you guys wanted to search?"

"Paulina found a drug at the crime scene," Thea answered before her student. "It was a liquid compound of Diazepam and Lorazepam, and we theorized that the kidnappers needed both drugs' effects for a quick and silent abduction and so that the victims knock out long enough for them to not know where they were taken."

Pinky got a little intrigued and narrowed her eyes. "I think I've been browsing the Deep Web myself long enough to know what you're looking for," she said.

"You do?" Trap said, disbelieving.

She turned around to face her computer and typed a long word in the search bar. I only stared at her as she explained. "I browsed the Deep Web the other day, searching for Valium and Ativan. Ten results out of billions of websites that sell drugs sell Ativan and Valium."

She hit 'enter' on her keyboard and we waited for the page to load. "And only one of them, you should consider yourselves lucky, sells the compound."

I switched my attention to the large monitor when the page finally loaded after 3 seconds. The top result of the search: Ativalium. Just like the what she typed.

"Just when you thought you've seen everything," said Pamela, gawking at the monitor.

"I think we just found our seller," Benjamin stated, smirking.

"You, Fraulein, are a girl of wonders," I complimented.

"Thanks..." Pinky blushed.

"So G, what's our next phase?"

"What else? Contact the seller and ask him about the drugs," he responded. "Russell, that's your part."

"Get me a contact number," the Brit demanded.

Pinky clicked on the link, which loaded another site. The seller's drug site.

It completed loading, displaying a dark background with the website's title; Les Médicimants de Gustav.

"And you're in more luck because this seller is French," Pinky pointed out.

On the page displayed a thumbnail of a syringe filled with green liquid. The label on the bottom wrote: Ativalium. Pinky clicked on it, and loaded the details page.

Hussein read the description of the drug when the page loaded. "A compound of Lorazepam and Diazepam, now contains effects from both drugs, Lorazepam is quick-acting and allows drug to be injected directly into the bloodstream and Diazepam retains effects for a long period of time. Recommended for kidnappings."

"There's the contact number at the top," Violet said, pointing at it.

"Wanna take a shot at calling, Geronimo?" Nicky suggested.

Russell already had his hands on his iPhone. "I'm way ahead," he said. He dialed the number in his keypad, then he gave it to me when it was ringing. "Put it on loudspeaker."

I placed the iPhone on the edge of the computer table's screen, and automatically received and transmitted the audio signal to the speakers in the room.

"Everyone keep quiet now," Russell advised.

Not long after that, the man at the other side of the line answered. "_Bonjour?_" the mid-pitch voiced Frenchman began. He sounded like he was in his his late 20s.

"Are you Gustav?"

"Who wants to know?"

"I'm interested in a...uh...certain item you have for sale in your site in the Deep Web."

I checked on Pinky, busy doing her expertise in her computer. "Are you running a trace?" I spoke sotto voce, until I didn't let my voice out.

She nodded my question. On her screen was a phone call tracing software, triangulating Gustav's location.

"Ah, so you fancy something in ze site, no?" Gustav asked.

"Indeed I am. I've found this item, called Ativalium. Is it still in stock?"

"Yes, lots actually. I just produced a batch earlier zis week."

"Great. I wish to acquire two syringes from you."

"Of course! Of course..."

She was nearly done with the trace. He was somewhere outside Paris.

"So, let's talk about price," Russell continued.

"It is clearly stated on ze website, _non_?"

"I noticed, but I was hoping there was some sort of discount you could give me. You know, when the boss gives you a budget to spend on drugs for a kidnapping, he doesn't usually give quite enough."

"Ookay, okay, okay. What you are going to do with them not my business, but I understand. Hmm... I think zat I can work something out."

The trace was finally completed, and we had an exact location of Gustav. But Pinky wasn't finished yet.

"Much thanks, mate. So, when and where do we meet to run the deal?" asked Russell.

"When can you deal?"

"I need the thing ASAP and I am in France... How about noon?"

"Of course. I will text you ze coordinates to where we will meet."

"Got it. I'll be there in a black Audi."

"Do you have a name?"

"Brock Russell."

"Got it. _Au revoir..._" Gustave then hung up.

"Where's he at?" I asked Pinky.

"He was hanging out at a café in Marseille. He should be gone by a few minutes, but from his location, I managed to hack his phone and computer and pulled his personal information and found his last name," she explained. She hacked her way through Interpol's firewalls and accessed the database server's archives, and searched for Gustav's full name.

"His full name is Gustav Blanc," Pinky introduced, with his Interpol rap sheet on the monitor. "Born in Alsace in 1986, he's been wanted by Interpol since five years ago for illicit drug trafficking and distribution."

"No wonder he seems familiar," said Russell, being the one working in the Intelligence Department.

"This is it, we get him, we get the girls," Hussein reminded.

Suddenly, a ringtone from Russell's phone sounded. He picked it up from the table an glanced at the screen. "He texted me the coordinates," he said. He gave the phone to Pinky. "Check out where this is."

"On it," she responded.

She speedily typed the coordinates in the map's search bar and hit enter. The map immediately zoomed in to where the place was. "Marseille-Fos Port, Porte 4," Pinky said. The place was a straight road between a long warehouse and the water.

"Send those coordinates up to my car," said Russell, retrieving his phone.

"Which one?" She was on another hacking software, detecting a lot of targets on the screen. "There's a lot of cars up top."

"It's the only Audi RS6 Avant in the lot."

"You kept the Audi The Technologists gave you?" I chimed in.

"Interpol let me keep it, so I did. I fixed it up after you and Thea blasted me with an EMP burst back in Malaysia."

Not a moment later, she did it. "Found it. Coordinates sent to your GPS."

"Thank you, Miss Pick." Russell turned to Geronimo. "So Stilton, let's talk strategy."

"Right. Paulina, bring up the holographic image on the table, if you please," Geronimo requested politely.

Paulina typed some commands in the prompt. Then she made a raising hands gesture which the motion sensors around the room detected and 3D holographic projections of the port grew from the computer table.

Even Pinky was amazed and exited.

She looked at me "From your cars' interiors to inside this room, you know what I see?" She got to my side and threw her right arm around my neck, held her left paw in the air and her eyes followed it, so did mine, and she said; "Holograms... holograms everywhere." I giggled at her clever meme reference.

The both stepped closer to the table. "So, you're dealing at this straight road, correct?" Geronimo pointed at where the 3D pin was placed. "You go in alone to settle the deal and confirm that he's the dealer while we wait and hide in some of the empty warehouses. For the rest of the time, some of us here are going to monitor you if anything goes wrong. Once he's confirmed, you signal in our tac team, then they'll come in and block both exits so he'll have no where else to go. We make the arrest, and bring him back to Lyon."

"Sounds pretty straight forward," Russell stated. "Who amongst us are coming with?"

"Me, the Thea Sisters, they need the training anyway, Trap, and Hussein."

Russell nods in approval while pulling off the 'not bad' face. "I reckon that we move immediately so we could establish you and the tac teams' steak out spot."

"Good suggestion," Geronimo agreed. "Hussein, Trap, and the girls, I want you to go gear up in the armory. Wear a plate carrier, equip high-power rifles and pistols with sufficient ammunition in case of firefights, then meet me and Russell at the garage for briefing with the tac team." They followed his orders and went into the armory just behind the shooting range. "Russell, you're coming with me to see the General Secretariat to get the €10,000 for the drugs."

* * *

**1157 hours**

It was then hours after they've taken off. We monitored them, watching them hiding inside one of the warehouse nearby Russell's location where he waited. In the Ops Command, the five of us remain observing and requesting status updates as each hour passed.

"Three minutes left, Russell," I reminded over the long-distance comlink. "Any sign of him?"

"None," he responded. He was sitting in his car. "I'm the only one here and I'm enjoying the noise the water makes when it hits the concrete wall."

"This is getting boring," Hussein whined. "Should have taken a nap a few hours ago, but I don't wanna get caught sleeping on the job." He was the one driving the SWAT truck that transported Geronimo, Trap, and the Thea Sisters.

"And it was wise that you didn't," Geronimo supported. "Benjamin, did anything come back from the French forensics yet?"

The mouselet was looking at his Ben Pad. "Yeah, they just did," Benjamin squeaked, looking bleak.

"Any luck?"

"Sadly, no. The blond hair sample they found in the stolen Renault never found a match in any of the databases they have access to."

"Try looking in Interpol's databases," Thea proposed. "You'll bound to find something in there."

"And if we don't?" Hussein said.

"It was worth a shot..."

"How long will it take for results to turn up?" asked Geronimo.

"Twenty-four hours tops," Benjamin answered.

"Then might as well get started; time is currently not on our side. Hasten the search if possible."

"Roger that, Uncle G."

Out of the blue, my stomach roared. Everyone looked at me funny. "I'm gonna get myself an apple," I said. "Tell me if you see anything."

I sunk my teeth in the apple I was eating, emitting a loud crunch. It was seconds before the clocks strike twelve, and I was halfway through the Rose apple.

In the Ops Command, we heard Hussein singing and rapping lyrics of the song 'Stereo Hearts' by Gym Class Heroes through the comlink. We enjoyed it actually, except Russell who was slightly annoyed. "Hussein, would you please. Just. Cut that out?" he snapped.

"What? Everyone seemed to enjoy it," Hussein stated.

"You do know that I have an infotainment system in my Audi, right?"

"Uh... men? I'm picking up movement on our left," Geronimo alerted, stopping the two's argument. The warehouse's first layer of doors were steel mesh, so he and the others can see through.

"Any description on the vehicles approaching?" Thea asked.

"Deep blue 2014 M5 Beemer tailing a Black 2014 S-Class Mercedes," Hussein described. "From the side they're coming from, I'd say they'll be arriving in front of you, Russell."

"10-4," the man responded.

Pinky and I tapped into Russell's Audi's front parking camera to observe. We heard a beeping alarm in our earpieces after that. "Now that was impressive," Russell said.

"What was?" I said, playing dumb.

"You just burst through 4 layers of firewall in my car's software. Each with a 128K-bit encryption."

"With a little bit of help from the chip," I said, high-fiving Pinky after that.

We kept our eyes on the live feed, and began to see the two cars enter the road. "I've got visual on them. Closing in from 12 o'clock."

"Alright, people. It's showtime - Russell, act natural and tac teams, standby for Russell's signal," Benjamin said.

"I have a few more cameras in my car and you have my permission to hack them... you know... just in case you wanted more angles," Russell solemnly said, putting on his pair of pilot sunglasses. Then we heard of what sounded like him letting down both sun visors.

"I detect five more front-facing cameras," Pinky reported. "You want me to bring 'em up?"

"All of them," I confirmed, swallowing and taking another huge bite out of the apple.

Five mini live feeds popped up around the front bumper's. "Get the feed from the right sun visor," Thea demanded.

Pinky double clicked on the mini feed and it grew to the center of the monitor, taking the place of the current feed.

We noticed that all men of the two cars exited their vehicles. They were Gustav and his men, with him in the Mercedes. "Here goes nothing..." Russell nervously said to himself.

We heard him got out. He slowly proceeds to the front of his car, carrying a silver briefcase with the cash in it.

"Are you Brock Russell?" Gustav asked for confirmation.

"That'd be me," Russell answered.

Gustav had one of his men to search Russell. He ordered him to lift his arms up and began patting every part of his body. "Enjoying yourself?" Russell muttered to the henchman, annoyed and violated. He never did like people searching him.

Once the henchman was done and confirmed that Russell had nothing on himself, the deal was resumed. "I apologize for zat," Gustav began. "Sometimes my customers bring guns. Anyway, bonjour. I am Gustav."

"Pleased to meet you," the Englishman greeted back with an almost fake smile. Russell then slowly takes some unnoticeable steps to the side of his car so we had a clear view of the deal taking place. "So, I understand that you have the merchandise?"

Gustav snapped his fingers to cue in another one of his men. He brought a briefcase with him, looking similar to Russell's. The henchman stopped and stood beside Gustav, unlocking the clips of the case and opening it, giving Russell a sight if the green liquid contained in syringes.

"Ativalium," Russell muttered, gawking at the drugs. "I never knew that two drugs could be mixed and have the effects of both."

Gustav in self pride started to monologue. "Well, I came down a long line of chemists. My grandfather was a chemist, my parents were chemists, and so, I have become one as well."

"Ask him about how he got the Valium and Ativan," Thea squeaked into her mouthpiece.

"So, these are made of Valium and Ativan, right?" Russell started. "As far as I know, the two are illegal to own in France without a prescription or a licence. So assuming that you have neither, how did you acquire them?"

"It was not easy, but it was worth my drugs," Gustav answered. "I know ze ways around a few hospitals in France and took some from zheir storage..."

Pinky in suspicion opened a terminal window and a login window of the French police's database. "What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Looking for any police reports made by hospitals by the past month about missing drugs," she answered, still able to focus on hacking. Once she was done piercing the firewall, she accessed the report archives; scrolling down.

Quickly, she found them. "Got 'em. Five hospitals reported that a large amount of their Valium and Ativan stocks went missing."

"You sound professional, mate," Russell commented. "I like that." Gustav grunted as a response. "How many of these have you sold?"

"If you really must know, I've sold 10 syringes zis month alone... if it guarantees your satisfaction..."

"Hearing that, it does."

"So, shall we seal it?"

"You said that there would be a discount."

"Of course! Since you are a new customer, I can cut €1000 off."

"That's great, thanks." Russell looked to his left with a frown and gave his briefcase rudely to the henchman who searched him. "Count it, everything should be there." The man and Russell gave each other a dead stare. "Go on! I haven't got all bloody day!" He motioned the man to back away.

He went to his boss, clueless of what to do. "_Compter tout! Assurez-vouz qu'il est dix mille euros._" Gustav snapped. The man was still standing there. "_Allez! Rapidement!_" He went to the cars behind them. "_Imbécile... Alex! Aller l'aider._" He switches attention to Russell, smiling awkwardly. "I must apologize, _Monsieur_. It is hard to find Frenchmen who speak English in France."

"It's alright," Russell forgave, smiling at him.

After 15 seconds later, Alex returned to his boss and nodded, telling him that everything was there. He had a stack of €1000 and handed it to Gustav. "Here you are, Monsieur, your €1000 as agreed," he said, giving the stack to Russell, "...and your Ativalium."

The henchmen who held the briefcase of drugs closed it up and gave it to Russell. Sooner than expected, the deal was sealed. "Pleasure doing business with you, Gustav," Russell gave his thanks, reaching out his hand.

"Likewise..." Gustav grabbed Russell's hand and shakes on it. "We shall see each other again, I hope."

"I have a feeling that we will," replied Russell.

Gustav and his men paced back to their cars, and Russell did the same a second later so they were out of hearing range. "Tac teams, you're clear to move in, NOW," he cued into the comlink.

"Roger that," Hussein responded, starting the engine of his truck.

He had his Audi's engine running during the deal. As soon as he climbed into it, he reversed quickly away from Gustav. He was at a safe distance when the four SWAT trucks came in and blocked the exits front and back.

Gustav wasn't even in his car yet, and he was stunned. "_Qu'est-ce qui se passe?_" He yelled.

Russell parked his car about 30 meters away from Gustav, and the trucks just behind him. That was also the distance between him and Geronimo's truck.

Everyone moved out. They rushed in on Gustav's cars with M4 CQBs, yelling, "_Nous sommes d'Interpol! Mettez vos mains où je peux les voir! Maintenant!_" But when one of his men pulled out a pistol and opened fire at Russell's direction, they all had to fall back to find cover at the trucks.

"_PISTOLET!_" One of them alerted.

"EVERYONE BACK TO COVER!" Geronimo yelled. Then it all went ugly.

Everyone on Gustav's side pulled out FN Five-seveNs and started firing at both directions.

The Interpol tactical teams aimed out at the enemy and was about to return fire. "HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" I advised. "I don't want any friendly fire happening on this op!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Hussein asked with a grave tone as a bullet ricocheted off the SWAT van.

"We need to fight back, somehow!" Russell suggested. He was taking cover behind the opened driver door, and his car was taking a beating. "My car's shield can't hold it much longer!"

Then the window shattered to pieces as it got shot. "NOT THE WINDOW, YOU BLOODY WANKAS!" Russell cursed.

I bit my lip and began to think. "We need some marksmen on the site. How many sharpshooters are there?"

"Four, one from each truck including myself," Paulina replied. She was The Crew's sniper.

"Alright - attention all snipers! I want you to take out Gustav's men but keep him alive! Russell, open more doors to provide snipers on your side some cover."

"Is it gonna scratch my paint if I do this?!" he said.

"Most probably."

The Brit sighed in disappointment. "They're not paying me enough to do this job..." He reached his hand to the dashboard, with a holographic panel popping up from nowhere. He did something (I couldn't see what) and all the doors swung open.

I could see the two snipers move to behind the door since Pinky hacked all the cameras, front and back.

"Alright, I want you guys to open fire," I commanded. "Make those shots ACCURATE."

"On it," responded Paulina.

From the cameras and the earpieces, we, in the Ops Command, could hear the first loud shot fired from Paulina from her AWSM sniper rifle and saw one of Gustav's men going down.

"Body shot - first blood, six more to go," announced Paulina, pulling the bolt back to chamber another round.

Her shot was followed by three more loud shots, knocking dead three more of Gustav's men. "You guys are doing good, keep it up," I congratulated.

The other two men came out of cover at the worst moment, granting them a one-way trip to hell. Gustav's was left alone, hiding behind the doors. He couldn't come out of cover because he was too outnumbered to fire another shot. "You're outnumbered, Gustav Blanc!" Geronimo shouted, peeking out behind his truck. "Surrender peacefully and we would not harm you!"

He hesitated to give his answer. "ALRIGHT! Alright... I surrender. Hold your fire! I'm coming out."

The drug dealer stood up slowly facing The Crew's direction with his hands up and the gun still in his hand. The Crew and Tac Team 2 cautiously walks out of cover while aiming their weapons at Gustav. "Put your weapon on the ground an kneel down, hands on your head," Hussein instructed.

Gustav was frightened and slightly shaken, so he executed the orders just how we wanted them; slowly. "Cuff him," Geronimo ordered to a Tac Team 2 agent. The agent approached him as he slung his M4 CQB and took out a plastic cable tie. He went behind Gustav and brought his hands down together, tying them up.

Hussein came and kicked the gun away to a Tac Team 3 agent, with Geronimo following behind while his rifle slung on his shoulder. "Gustav Blanc," he began, pushing away the right vest strap away from his neck, "you are under arrest for illicit drug trafficking, distribution, and theft of government property, as well as conspiracy to commit kidnapping and resisting arrest."

As Hussein lifted Gustav up to his feet to be taken to a squad car, he read his rights. "You have the right to remain silent, and everything you say or do will be used in the court of law..."

Back to Russell, he wasn't quite happy about what happened to his car. "YOU'VE GOTTA BE BLOODY JOKING ME!" he cursed, looking at his car from the from the front. "RIDICULOUS! Who's paying for all these damages?!"

"Whoa! Calm down, Russell," Thea advised.

"My car is almost a wreck and you expect to calm down?" he replied angrily, but he hid his tone.

"Relax, I'm sure their just cosmetic. No biggy," Trap estimated.

"Stilton, my window is smashed. That's going to greatly affect the aerodynamics. And I just got her resprayed last month with high-end black gloss! It costs me €1200 per coat!" We saw him turn and noticed that his left side mirror was dangling from wires out of its socket. "Bloody mongrels are dead and even managed to take out a wing mirror."

"Okay, how about we go back to my Château and get your car fixed while Geronimo and Hussein interrogate Gustav at the French NCB in Paris?" I proposed.

He paused to think about it properly. "For free?"

I'll throw in some upgrades. If you want."

He took another moment. "Deal."

"We'll see you all back here, then we're off to Paris. Ops Command, signing out." Pinky ended the feeds and closed all windows except the command prompt.

I took off my earpiece and mic, looking at them. "So, it's two hours until they get back here," I stated. "What do we do in the meantime?"

Pinky was the first one to break the silence. "I'm up for an online deathmatch in Fields Of Battle 3; anyone care to join?"

"As long as we're all on the same side," Pandora answered.

"I want in," Benjamin squeaked excitedly.

"As shall I, comrades," I followed. "Thea?"

"My gaming skills are a little rusty, but we'll see," she said. "I'll fetch my laptop."

Together, we played until they all came back.


	12. Chapter 12-Attack On The Convoy

**A/N: What's up everybody? Malaysianpro back with another chapter! I hope it didn't take too long for y'all. So, I'm just gonna cut to the chase and let you guys get to the chapter. Malaysianpro, out.**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters or stories will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Attack On The Convoy**

**Château de l'Arif - Paris, France**

**1700 hours**

After a long ride, we all made it back to the Château in an hour prior the time stamp written above, except Geronimo and Hussein. The two split up from us and drove to the NCB instead while escorting Gustav. Of course, Pinky had to come back with us, or she'd have to accommodate at the Ops Command.

At the moment, we were about to witness the interrogation. I managed to hack my way to the camera feed of the interrogation room without alerting anyone, and displayed it to the living room flatscreen TV for everyone at the top to watch. Meanwhile, a second flatscreen also received the live feed at the waiting lounge in the underground garage for me and Russell to watch. Benjamin had to miss all of it while I was eavesdropping the audio that reflected off the garage walls while I worked on cloning another car for Russell (which he had no idea of) and had to miss practice sessions with Benjamin and Flash.

I peaked out of the brand new car while I was working with her new AI profile. The position of the turntable gave me a perfect view of the flatscreen through the windscreen; I could see Gustav sitting on a chair bolted to the ground, cuffed to it as he faced the door.

"Look at this scum," Russell began. "He sickens me."

"How?" I responded, busy looking down on the holographic screen in front of the steering wheel.

"He steals meds from hospitals that need them. I expected that he's got some sort of supplier, but his method is just cruel."

"I thought your experience The Technologists would make you feel normal," Trap chimed in through the speakers, his squeaks booming around in the showroom garage. The whole château was wired with hidden microphones so J-Son could receive and input orders as well as communication between rooms.

"Well Trap, although I was a terrorist spy, I had ethics in doing my job," Russell replied. "I'm not as ruthless as Williams was."

I wanted the conversation to continue, so I started with another topic. "So, what's everyone gonna think will happen in this interrogation?"

"I don't know," Russell answered with a lower octave. "How much are you willing to bet if this ends with a shocker?"

"None, because gambling isn't allowed in Islam. But if I did, I'd go for $100."

Russell wore a smirk. "I think I can do better than that."

I poked my head out of the opened door. "How better?"

"Mmm... $150, maybe?"

"I'm betting $40," Trap joined in.

"If he's betting, I'm in," Thea asserted. "80 bucks, no shocker."

"$70 if there is, another $70 if there isn't," Pinky gambled.

"€40 for each of the Thea Sisters!" Pamela announced.

"$10 with shocker," Pandora bet.

"Bet all you want, as long as you guys leave me out of it," I shouted from inside the car.

Russell chuckled, shaking his head.

We saw the door being opened in the flatscreen, then Geronimo followed by Hussein enter the room.

"Alright everyone! Be quiet, the interrogation is about to start," Russell requested.

We all settled down, and watched the interrogation take place.

Hussein who had the time to change clothes removed his hoodie from his head. "Gustav Blanc... Five years you've been most wanted #6 and you're finally caught," Geronimo started calmly.

"Who knew all it took was a set up to trap you?" Hussein stated.

Blanc gave them both a short and blank stare. "Ze only thing zat I have done ever since I've been wanted was selling drugs. You knew what I have done, you know what my crime is and have me arrested at last. Ze question is; what am I doing in here?"

"Certainly you knew about the disappearances of two of the Interpol Women's Tactical Fashion Week competitors are missing, correct?" Geronimo asked to confirm, and Blanc nodded. "We think that you have a connection to those disappearances."

"How could I be involved in such things? I have no reason to kidnap them at all," Blanc answered.

"We didn't accuse you of committing the kidnapping, Blanc," Hussein snapped. "We said you might be connected to this mess. When forensics investigated the rooms of those missing women, we found an unusual drug compound that got absorbed in one of the women's pillows. That substance was your Ativalium, which makes you a conspirator of the abduction."

"So? What do you want from me, then?"

"We want the identity of the buyer you last sold the Ativalium to; before we set you up," Geronimo squeaked.

"And what will I get in exchange for my cooperation?"

"30 years of jail at a Danish prison, at the least. With your kidnapping and resisting arrest charges dropped," Hussein proposed.

"And if I don't?"

"A lifetime of solitary confinement."

Blanc sighed heavily. "Better than getting locked up alone... What do you need to know?"

"Who did you last sold the drug to?" Geronimo demanded.

Blanc frowned. "Let me think, my memory is a bit fuzzy... It was...uh..."

"Blanc?" Hussein called.

"No, wait, I think I am getting something..."

Geronimo glanced at his watch "Blanc?"

"No, wait! I am getting something!"

"Did he or she mention a name, Blanc?" Hussein snapped again.

Blanc stopped to recall. "Ah! Now that you said it, SHE actually did."

"A she..." Hussein muttered.

"She said her name was Roux."

ROUX? The event's organizer?

All of us both at the Château and the interrogation was taken aback. I bumped my head on the roof as I was trying to pop it out of the car, to make sure what I heard was real.

Only Russell was the one looking confused. "Who's Roux?"

"She's the event's organizer," I answered.

Geronimo and Hussein exchanged shocked looks. "Could you give a description about her? Any distinct ones?" Geronimo asked.

Blanc took another moment to fetch how her appearance was. "I can never forget about ze unique shade of red on her shoulder length hair..."

It was definitely Roux. Her red hair was stylishly short with the edges curled towards the inside. "Who bet on the no shoker ending owes the ones who did," Trap interrupted.

"I can't believe it," Thea said disdainfully. "She was right under our noses this whole time!"

"It makes sense," Pandora summarized. "She knew where the women were staying because she was the one who picked out the hotel."

"What about the security details? How did she know about them?" Nicky wondered.

"Everything Interpol knows, she knows. Because she's collaborating with the agency to run the event itself, she has all the rights to know," Russell theorized.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet," I interjected. "Something just doesn't seem right here."

"What did you have in mind, Danny?" Thea asked.

"When something that shows me to a lead in a case comes up, I always feel these little ripples in the Force; like they're telling me that we're getting close. Right now, I don't feel it at all." Its okay about the Jedi thing, Russell already knew.

"So what your saying is that maybe we have the wrong girl?" Pinky said.

"Yeah. Because when we broadcasted the event yesterday, I felt the urge to go somewhere, like the Force is trying to lead me to something. Maybe it was the mole."

"Why don't you talk to Professor Philips? Maybe he knows something," Russell suggested.

I grunted his proposal in agreement, then went back to setting up his car.

Geronimo and Hussein traded another look with each other. "I think we're done," Hussein said.

"Thank you for your time and cooperation, Blanc," Geronimo squeaked. Then both of them walked out the room.

"Who knew..." Thea began, "...the one who put up the event was a Technologist mole the whole time."

"Wait... The Technologists? They're back?" Russell dismayed.

I was done setting up the software in Russell's Audi, and got out with a remote key, shutting the door. "At least we think they are, based on a theory," I explained.

"And what theory would that be?"

I approached him. "We found in a security footage that the missing women were transported in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter."

"And?"

"Colette points out that it's German. Guess what The Technologists' preferred automobiles came from."

"Audi is... German."

"And she thinks that The Technologists doesn't just prefer Audi, they prefer anything German."

"But as I told everyone," Colette chimed in, "maybe I am correct, maybe I am not."

Russell nodded to the statement. "So, is my Audi done?"

"She is," I announced. "But this one isn't yours. It's a brand new one that I cloned off from one in my collection."

"So where's my car?"

"She's kept in a guest garage so I could fix her up later. Who knows? Maybe you'd use her as a backup car."

"Alright then... Summarize her to me."

"Okay... She's now powered by a 4.0 liter bi-turbo V8 FSI engine. It's equipped with racing components including a carbon fiber intake manifold for weight reduction, enlarged turbochargers for more power output, and two 2-liter tanks of nitrous oxide for a quick acceleration boost for 10 seconds. It still has cylinder on demand, and it produces 1060 horsepower with all 8 cylinders running, 1160 with nitrous."

"Why'd you swap it with the Viper V10?"

"It took up too much space for weapons. Couldn't fit the miniguns in."

"Gearbox?"

"8-speed Tiptronic. Can be switched to semi-automatic." Tiptronic is just a trademark of the manumatic transmission.

"Hmm... Carry on."

"Anyway, she has a top speed of 240 miles an hour, and accelerates from zero to sixty in two point five seconds... She's got massive traction from experimental compound Michelin tires which could re-inflate and retread depending on road surface, and active aerodynamics which gives much downforce. I've installed a popup front diffuser which hides under the bumper, and popup side splitters hidden inside the sides of the front bumper. The brake vents can also be closed at high speed for extra downforce, and they reopen once you brake."

"What's her weight?"

"1267 kilograms after chassis conversion to carbon fiber monocoque as well as the body panels and wheels. Both are bulletproof, lightweight, and self-repairing."

"Safety features and weapons system?"

"Bulletproof Betagel glass windows, front-mounted popup M134 miniguns hidden in the fenders as I mentioned, EMP, and 11 other toys you can find out yourselves. She can also disguise herself by temporarily switching body colors and license plate numbers, and an electromagnetic shield to counter EMPs."

"Software?"

"Upgraded race-spec ECU powered by iOS with six driving modes programmed including a Pursuit Mode, installed a female AI, and updated the HUD design and layout which The Technologists stole from my dad's Panamera, and I forgot to mention that she came with the police package. You know; lights and sirens and all."

"Artificial intelligence? I can talk to her, now?"

"Yup. She can also receive the commands from you, and connect to you by a pair of sunglasses which allow telepathic communication between you and her." I applied Professor Von Volt's technology from his own car, Solar.

"I've registered her as a new Interpol car in France, all you have to do is name her." I continued. Russell slowly nods, holding and not showing his excitement. "She's all yours."

I handed the remote key over to him. "Yelena," he mumbled, just enough for my eardrums to pick up. "I'm naming her Yelena."

"Yelena? Sounds like a perfect name for her," I commented.

"After my wife... There's no one I love more than my her."

Yelena, upon hearing Russell naming her, turned on her headlights. It made her look like she was waking up. "Good evening, sir," Yelena greeted in her soft artificial voice, addressing her owner respectfully.

"Good evening to you to, Yelena. And I'm just fine with you calling me Brock," Russell greeted back.

"If you insist... Brock."

I smiled warmly. "I'm giving you a $3 million budget for Yelena's repairs, resprays, maintenance... Anything related to her."

He was even more surprised. "Oh! Well, thank you, lad!"

"You're welcome, and there's one more thing. I'm trusting you to not tell anyone who doesn't know about this vehicle tech. You can tell your wife, but only if you need to. Can I trust you?"

"Absolutely," he answered confidently.

"Take good care of her."

"I will."

* * *

**1754 hours**

While everyone was busy dressing up for the event later that night, Russell and I were still hanging out inside the garage with Pandora, Trap, Pinky, and Benjamin joining in (after he finished his practice session).

Russell was on the phone with his wife, telling her not to worry about his absence at that night. Weirdest thing is; he was speaking in an Irish accent. "I'm sorry I couldn't be back for you tonight, love," Russell apologized. "I'll be sleeping over at a friend's place. Yes, he's a guy. Alright. Stay safe. Bye."

As he hung up, Trap posed a question. "What happened to your accent, Russell? I thought you were British."

"What do you mean? I've been Irish for my whole life," replied the man, keeping the accent on. "The accent was just for cover."

"You managed to keep that accent from the day we busted you until just now?" I asked.

"Yes... no, not really. I speak Irish with my wife, I can't lie to her. If you've read my file then, you would have known that."

I rolled my eyes.

"This is The Crew to garage, do you copy?" Thea reported in from the living room.

"Loud and clear, Thea," I responded.

"We're all set. Has Geronimo called?"

"Yeeaaauuup, about ten minutes ago. He's at Hussein's hotel, getting ready. He should be escorting the designers to the tower as we speak."

"Roger that. Let's move it, Thea Sisters!"

Out of the blue, J-Son alerted me about an incoming call. "Sir, call incoming from Agent Geronimo Stilton," said the smart home system.

"Patch it through," I ordered. J-Son connected me to him, via Terra.

"Danny! Where are you?" he began. His squeak sounded like he was in an emergency, and in the background, we heard the redlining of Terra's V8 and screeches of tyres.

"We are still at home, about to take off for the event. What's wrong?"

"We need some backup over here! In pursuit of two Porsche Cayennes," Hussein answered, riding shotgun beside Geronimo. "There was an attack on the convoy! They've taken Lily MacArthur and Natalia Lemkova!"

Those were two more of the competitors of the fashion week. "By who?!" I started sounding grave.

"THE TECHNOLOGISTS!"

My blood ran cold. "What?!" I said in disbelief.

"We'll explain later," Geronimo insisted the turbos' blow off valves sounded. "Right now, I need you all to assist us in this Code 3."

I motioned my hand for the four (excluding Russell) to get to the elevator. "Where are they headed now?" I asked.

"They're half a mile away from the Château, going westbound, heading to the A10. There are about 15 black German cars protecting the Cayennes, and the numbers are rising."

"We're on our way. ETA, two minutes. Thea! You heard that?"

"We did," she replied. "On our way down to the storage garage."

"I'll see you girls there." I sped to the second elevator near the waiting lounge as the doors slid open, then the four went in. "Russell, it's your lucky night. You're joining us." I said 'lucky' because when we get into pursuits, we make it action-packed.

"I am?" He responded.

I stepped into the elevator. "Yup. Get into Yelena, and meet us outside."

"Got it."

The doors slid close, and we began our decent.

We stopped a few seconds later, at the floor where the Bugatti Siblings and the Ghosts were kept. At the same time, Thea and her students came out of the other elevator.

"If I knew zis would happen, I should have not worn zis dress," Colette complained as our groups marched side by side. She was in a pink dress.

"In this situation, Colette, sometimes you just gotta suck it up," I said.

"Which cars do we take?" Pinky asked.

"Bugattis or Koenigseggs. Take your pick. Thea, you and me are in Pierre."

"Who's driving?" she asked, looking excited towards me.

I smirked. "Who do you think?"

"I don't know, but I think pursuits are more of your thing."

We climbed in. Benjamin decided to operate (Bugatti) Colette's weapons with Pandora, Pinky wanted to become a strategist while riding with Trap in Anton, Pamela got Phantom all to herself, Colette and Violet shared Wraith the Agera, Paulina hopped into Banshee the Agera S, while Nicky wanted to drive Diane. (She said Koenigseggs are too cramped, and she's claustrophobic.)

Our vehicles roared to life as we started their engines. The HUD lit up bright, and I quickly set the Veyron Super Sport's driving mode to Pursuit. "Comm check, comm check. Does anyone copy?" I said.

"I copy," Benjamin responded.

"Me too," Trap announced.

"Crystal clear," Pamela followed.

"Hearing you perfectly, mate," Nicky said.

"As are we," Colette acknowledged.

"Brock Russell, reporting in," he radioed.

"Great. Russell, are you there at the gate?"

"I'm still on the yard."

"Drive to the main road. You'll see us there."

"Roger that."

"Attention all Bugatti Siblings and Ghosts, prepare to be deployed for a Code 3 pursuit. Except for you Valkyrie," I briefed.

"What am I supposed to do, sir?" asked a new female voice from the comlink.

"I want you to get a head start, try to cut them off from the front at the highway. Use the back roads, they should be empty. I sent the GPS coordinates for you to see where the chase is going."

"Yes, sir!" She obeyed. A roar of another engine echoed in the garage and disappeared soon after.

Thea looked at me curiously as she buckled up. "Who's Valkyrie?"

I pulled my belt and buckled it. "New asset. A Koenigsegg. You'll meet her soon." I grabbed on to the steering wheel to disengage Autopilot. "Alright, Crew! Straight up chase, one target. Keep track of your navigation, Geronimo's location is highlighted on the minimap. Lights and sirens on. Don't be hesitant to ask your car about their new weapons."

"LET'S ROLL!" Thea cheered.

I pulled Pierre out of the parking space and started driving towards the emergency exit tunnel. "Everyone follow my lead," I commanded.

We drove into the two-lane exit tunnel. Engine growls and turbo whines filled along with siren wails as blue and red lights flickered. The tunnel started to incline upwards slightly as we sped at full throttle. "I'm at the main road, where are ya?"

"Great, now head west and step on it," I instructed. The main road was long, enough for Russell to catch some speed.

"Affirmative."

"Everyone hold on, we're about to catch some air!"

We saw the dark blue sky near the end. That was the exit.

We took on the jump at 140 miles an hour, flying for about 1 second, then landed two by two on the main road with a jolt due to stiff suspension. As I calculated, Thea and I would land right beside Russell's car.

He was in shock. "Bloody hell! Where'd you come from?" he said.

"Told you we'd meet here," I reminded. "Geronimo and Hussein, hang tight. Backup is on your way."

"Copy," the mouse responded.

* * *

**A10 Autoroute (L'Aquitaine)**

**1802 hours**

We took the roads that were empty of traffic to get to Geronimo and Hussein. The sun was already set and sky started to darken as the twilight fades away slowly, the stars began to shine bright, and the crescent moon supplied some light down on the earth to compensate the lack of street lights as we approached a ramp to the A10.

The chase was already taking place on the highway itself, and Geronimo's marker was passing us in the minimap as the beam of the headlights from the pursued and the pursuer zoomed on the overpass. "There they are, Crew. Let's get 'em," I said.

All 17 of us drifted tight onto the ramp, shifting down a gear for more torque. We injected five seconds of NOS as we pulled out, and to catch up with Geronimo. "Your cavalry has arrived, boys," Thea informed.

"Thank God, you showed up," Hussein reacted.

"So tell us how this happened," I demanded, swiftly overtaking a civilian.

"We were in the middle of escorting the convoy," Geronimo began, "and as we drove on a green light at Quai Brainly, the limousines were rammed on the sides by Audi Q7s. The police escorts were shot dead, and the women taken."

We took on a hill and caught minor air. "Sounds like a planned ambush. Are the other two okay?" Russell asked as we landed.

"They are, we traveled in separate routes," Hussein clarified.

I glued my eyes on the cars, and road. "Pinky, you're the strategist. You think you can mark all the enemy vehicles for me?"

"I can, but to do that, I need to perform a reconnaissance sweep from an air support," she said.

"I believe a Roofjet is required for this," Anton suggested, performing a slight left as the rest of us.

"Good idea," I commented. "Ghost?"

"Deploying Roofjet," said the grey Koenigsegg CCX.

Behind us, the Swedish supercar's targa top separated from the body and into the air. In a blink of an eye, jet wings grew on both sides of the roof and it flew away with the push of its thrusters, emitting a sonic boom that shook our cars. The jet performed a loop-de-loop before coming back.

The enemy cars were marked with a crosshair on top of each of them in the augmented reality HUD. Anton should have projected the holographic screen displaying the Roofjet's camera feed to Pinky. "I got the feed. I see about thirty cars, and the two Cayennes at the front about a hundred and fifty meters ahead," she reported.

"Geronimo, I thought you said there were only fifteen," I recalled, feeling cheated.

"I said there was fifteen and RISING!" he repeated, emphasising.

We all avoided a truck hauling a long trailer. "So, how do we do this thing?" Pamela asked.

"We'll try to get to the front of the pack. Assuming they don't try to defend, we directly engage the two Cayenne's," Hussein put forward.

"Who's gonna put it into motion?" Nicky asked.

"I'll do it," Pamela volunteered. "Danny, get me to slipstream behind you."

At a long straight, she overtook Anton and Diane while I slowed down to drive beside (Bugatti) Colette. Pamela came up close to Pierre's rear.

"Keep close. I'll tell you when to slingshot yourself," I directed. "Let's go."

I injected nitrous into the engine for a boost in speed, so did Pamela. We moved forward into the group of enemy SUVs as our hypercars' mid-mounted tailpipes spat out blue flames that'd danced about frantically, illuminating the black road below. "All units, keep up the chain! Follow behind us!" I urged.

One by one, they joined the slipstream train. First, Benjamin and Pandora, then Geronimo and Hussein, followed by Russell. By then, I was nearing the first Cayenne.

"SPLIT UP, NOW!" I ordered.

I drove Pierre into the emergency lane, Pamela squeezed through the gap between two SUVs at the right, while Russell and Geronimo fit their cars in the spaces at the left lane.

I made it past a line of Cayennes, but an Audi Q7 swerved right and blocked my path, forcing me to slow down. Phantom was nudged and sandwiched right at the first three cars, making Pamela fall back. The same thing went down with Yelena and Terra.

"Well, now we know that they are defending, what's next?" Thea queried.

Before I could even give an answer, a rear passenger of one of the Porsches wearing a black balaclava and a plate carrier stuck his head backwards out the window, and brought out an M249 SAW light machine gun, then shot 20 rounds at our cars (I counted the shots). We dodged them left and right so none of the shots could puncture our tires.

"Well, now we know that they're starting to go aggressive, its time to switch to offense," I said. "I know the hidden miniguns on our cars won't work; The Technologists' cars are bulletproof."

"Then what do we do? They won't make way for us, obviously," Geronimo pointed out.

"Then we make 'em let us through. Everyone, browse your weapons' menu. For this plan, we are gonna need some heavy hitting." Thea also browsed the menu; there were 8 weapons in total.

"Did you add some new toys? I'm starting to like this," Thea stated.

I smiled proudly. "I want all units to select Shock Ram and ESF. Shock Ram, basically a magnetic repulsion device I mounted in the front bumper. Once fully charged and discharged, everything metal in front of you will be pushed away. ESF, an Electrostatic Field. There's a device in the car that generates electrical charges through the body of your vehicle. Any vehicle touching you will be repelled away by a strong current of static electricity. It also protects you from EMP lock ons. Works for three hits per recharge."

As we skillfully maneuver around two cars, all drivers, codrivers, and autonomous cars equipped the two advance vehicle weapons.

Everyone then turns on their ESFs except Russell, and blue electric bolts started to gather around our cars flashing on and off, touching anything that nears them.

"The leading units will take out the first six cars. You guys will slipstream us and overtake to get rid of the next few cars, and the cycle repeats with us. Do you copy?" I said.

"Affirmative!" they all replied.

"Let's go, Crew!"

Geronimo, Russell and I as the leading pursuers moved in to the pack of Technologists cars while the others drafted close behind. As the gunner opened fire once more, Pierre's bumper touched the rear left side of a Cayenne at the right-most lane, and it repelled away to the side of the road and into the grass. It started spinning to its side and began to roll a few times as we left it. Immediately, Thea discharged the Shock Ram to the Q7 in the front and sent it tumbling forward, hitting the BMW X6 M in front of it, and because the front end kissed the tarmac, it flipped multiple times. It bounced off the road and continued flipping was we went under it, while the ones behind us avoided driving in the lane we were in.

Geronimo used Shock Ram first on the car he was targeting, pushing it forward to hit the SUV in front of it, then rammed both with ESF, sending one off the road, and the other taking out another Technologist SUV, making both end up crashing at the hill at the other side of the highway.

While the two of us directed the drafting cars forward while dodging bullets from multiple gunners, Russell, having half of his job done, went a little overboard by nudging the nose of his Audi hard into the rear of a Technologist Cayenne, Shock Rammed it so it hit another car up front, then applied nitrous and turned on ESF. He drove into the car's lifted rear left underside and sent it flying to the road side, flipping as it landed and slammed itself hard onto a bridge wall of an overpass.

I moved to the emergency lane so Colette could take a shot. She was slingshot, busting the same first move I did. After the first car she took down spun out on the grass, she nudged the X6 on her left with ESF, pushing it sideways to slam into another, making it lose control and spun sideways. Because the car was so tall, it fell on its side and barrel rolled its way into a tree at the roadside.

Geronimo made way for (Bugatti) Colette to drive through. Benjamin activated her turrets anyway and shot a few hundreds rounds into enemy cars as the Veyron Vitesse went side by side with an enemy Cayenne. The ESF's lightning bolts were so hot that when it touched the tires, they burst. Colette braked while the SUV began to swerve to the right, and I hit the right rear end so it'd spin out.

As the night fell and the skies gotten darker, we continued to take out more SUVs until they were no more left (there were twelve SUVs exactly). We were to take on more challenging enemy cars, German sport sedans. "I think we can use these miniguns, the glass windows aren't bulletproof. Maybe we can shoot the occupants if not the driver," Benjamin informed.

"Then let's," Shadow the CCXR Special Edition agreed. The car with a black paint job and red trimmings and huge rear spoiler took opportunity of his dark camouflage to lead the pack and snuck past everyone from the emergency lane to make him live up to his name, and popped out the M134 miniguns hidden under his hood. He shot the driver of a Mercedes-Benz E65 AMG from the middle lane, another in an Audi S8 as he switched lanes to avoid a car, one in a Porsche Panamera S from behind, and the final driving a BMW M6 Grand Coupé. He did it all with succession and pushed them all to the side. The only reason he stopped was a gunner shot his front left tire down, so he had to slow down, and fall back to re-inflate.

"You did well, Shadow. Try to keep up," I congratulated.

Out of nowhere, one of the Panameras had a part of its rear bumper hollowed each side and four tailpipe like objects slid out.

"Now THAT looks familiar," I stated.

"It should," Russell said. "Those are machine guns mounted inside, ready to shoot. That your father's weapon system, Danial. The one The Technologists stole."

"Everyone on high alert! Swerve to avoid your tires being popped!" I warned.

The guns opened fire. .50 caliber rounds flew in our faces without getting the bulletproof windows shattered. The Porsche slithered along the road so the rounds would hit all of us because they weren't capable of auto aiming. We did so as well, but with the leading cars shooting the turret at the car.

"We need to take this guy's guns out!" Russell said.

"On it," Nicky responded.

She overtook us and lead the pursuit. She equipped the EMP and locked onto the run-and-gunning Porsche sedan. "EMP is locked on," she reported.

The EMP was discharged, hitting the car hard and messing up its handling. It struggled to avoid spinning out, and managed so. Although not eliminated, the turrets and other of its weapons were down.

"ALL UNITS MOVE IN!" I signaled.

To counter the spontaneous action, all three passengers of the EMP-d Porsche stuck themselves out of the windows with carbine rifles and started shooting as we slipped through the enemy car's defense line.

We went far in as far as ten of our cars in our attempt to get to the targeted SUVs, when they started fighting back really aggressive. They started to bump into us, sandwich us, and in one try to take out Russell, they shot rounds into Yelena on both sides while they had him sandwiched.

"SHIT!" Russell swore as bullets hit the window beside him.

It was too much for us to handle, so we decided to retreat.

We were about 20 miles down the highway from where we joined after traveling at an average 290 kph. We needed to get to the cars fast before the defending Technologist cars created a diversion to redirect us.

"That was sudden," Paulina commented.

"If we can't clear them from the ground, we can clear from the air," I hinted.

"Air strike?" Thea guessed.

"Exactly. Ghosts, we need more Roofjets in the air! Carpet bomb as many enemies as you can."

"Deploying, sir," four Ghosts chorused.

Haunter, Vision, Spirit, and Specter launched their Roofjets, with Ghost's following. FYI, they were Koenigseggs CC8S, CCR, CCX Edition, and the CCXR.

The jets loop-de-looped as Ghost's did. This time, they returned from behind at speed. They launched high-explosive mini warheads, each Roofjet capable of holding two. The jets flew by above us, and our eyes followed the warheads flying towards the enemy cars as white smoke trailed before them.

The warheads' guidance system was superb. They drove the warheads into four Technologists cars' fuel tanks, making them explode in orange flames as they flipped forward. The other six used electronic warfare and EMP-d the remaining six warheads, disabling the guidance system and making them detonate on the surface of the road.

As soon as we went around the wrecked cars, an alert flashed on the HUD. "Sir, we have an EMP locked on us," Pierre alerted.

"I'm locked on too," Russell added.

"So am I!" Geronimo said gravely.

"We've got EMPs locked on all of us!" Pinky analyzed.

"All units activate ESF or EMP sheilds!"

Everyone activated their EMP shields. An alert flashed on all of our HUDs again, informing us the we evaded the lock.

"We gotta retaliate fast," Pamela said.

"Just what I was thinking," said Spook the Koenigsegg CCGT. The milk white street legal GT1 race car slipped passed the pack whilst blue flames spat out of his tailpipe, and continued forward into the group of Technologist cars.

"Sir, be ready!" Spook reminded.

I wore a confident face. "I think I know where this is going..."

I nitroused so Pierre's nose would be at the front of the pack. Out of nowhere, Spook deployed his extendable spike strips, spanning about two lanes in length. The Pursuit Tech dragged along the road by centrifugal force, emitting sparks from griding its yellow metal base against the road. Two Technologist Mercedes got their tires blown and ripped off the rim when they oversighted it and ran over it, making the aluminum spark and glow bright orange.

When the spikes passed under the cars, I saw its two blinking lights on either side heading for our tires. I timed my reaction accurately, and Shock Rammed it away to the roadside.

A right curve was ahead. When we entered it, the two Mercedes cars couldn't steer correct with no tires; so they understeer and end up going over the barrier and crashed into an overhead signboard pole at the other side of the highway.

The car that didn't got taken out slammed its side and grinded with Spook until he got pushed to the barrier, forcing Spook to slow down and get overtaken by us.

Then another Technologist militant stuck himself out of the same car, this time through the sunroof with a paratrooper variant of the RPG-7 mounted on his shoulder as he took aim at Pierre.

"HEADS UP! RPG!" Russell warned.

"ALL UNITS AROUND ME GET CLEAR!" I ordered.

I was at the leftmost lane, and everyone around me kept their distance and the ones behind me switch lanes.

"Better hang on, Thea!" I said.

The enemy car was about 60 meters away and we just drove around a semi-truck. The Technologist troop pulled the trigger and the warhead came straight for us.

In slow motion, I lowered the active rear spoiler and activated the active hydraulic suspension so it did a bunny hop with a single barrel roll, and we saw the speeding warhead go under the airborne Bugatti, missing the roof by mere inches. At the same time, a pair of small high-explosive missiles popped up from under Pierre's hood and fired them at the enemy Audi S6. The RPG warhead hit and detonated at the truck, causing a fiery explosion that lit up the night behind us for seconds and shook us. The missiles from Pierre were guided straight to the rear of the S6, striking the fuel tank and exploded, igniting the bio-ethanol. We landed flat on the wheels as it flipped over and went over us.

Thea looked excited after the land. "That felt epic!" she shouted.

"Then brace yourself, its gonna get more epic," I gave a heads up. "Valkyrie, where are ya?"

The female Koenigsegg replied: "I'm trying to keep up with you, sir."

"Where?"

"At the back roads, I'm just at your right, sir."

I turned my head towards the right, into the crops, and Thea followed. A bright white light beam was seen in between the narrow gaps between the crops, along with blinking red and blue lights, travelling the same speed as us.

That was her.

"That's Valkyrie?" Thea asked.

"Yup," I answered. "Can you cut them up front in the nearest time?"

"I'm afraid not, sir," Valkyrie indicated. "This road I compacted with cars despite being rural, and I can only avoid so much at a time."

"Get to the next exit into the Autoroute. Meet us when you can."

"Affirmative. ETA, fifteen seconds."

"Don't look now, WE'VE GOT MORE RPGs!" Hussein yelled.

Three more men in separate cars came out of the windows with RPG-7s mounted on their shoulders, taking aim at different targets (us).

"EVASIVE ACTION!" I shouted.

The rockets launched. We snaked on the road to avoid them hitting any of us, and they blew up right next to Pierre, Phantom, and (Bugatti) Colette.

"How many rockets do you think they have?" Violet asked.

"LOTS I bet," Paulina answered.

"Valkyrie...?!" I called her in a grave tone.

"10 seconds..." she replied.

"We've got three more sedans and seven Audi R8s," Pinky analyzed. "We gotta get rid of those RPGs."

"We need another air strike," Trap suggested.

"Any more Roofjets loaded with rockets?" I asked.

"Yes sir, deploying," said Shade, Shadow, and Ghoul. Shade and Ghoul are Koenigseggs CCXR Edition and Trevita respectively.

Three more Roofjets took the skies. They loop-de-looped back and kept on flying by as they launched six more rockets. Three of them had taken out an Audi R8, and two of the sedans. Only one sedan with the rocket launcher stands.

I looked at my right and saw an on-ramp to the highway went by us. That was where Valkyrie supposed to enter.

The guy with the launcher in the BMW M5 launched another rocket, and it struck the road just beside the right door of Diane.

"CRIKEY!" Nicky exclaimed.

"VALKYRIE...?!" I said in panic.

"Right behind you all, sir," she reported.

I glanced at the minimap as we overtook a car transporter truck with its ramp lowered. There was her marker as a yellow arrowhead, coming for us fast.

In Valkyrie's perspective, as we all came near an overpass, she approached the transporter truck at speed with the aid of SuperNOS (five times more potent uninterruptible nitrous) and took the ramp and went airborne in slow motion, making it a truck's height over the bridge in slow motion.

The Technologist RPG launched another rocket, this time, at Valkyrie. The aim was a little off, a bit downwards, so it struck the bridge instead. In the fire, Valkyrie emerged from inside it in midair. A second later, she landed in front of all of us, revealing to everyone what she is.

"Holy Swiss cheese, that's Valkyrie?" Thea asked.

"Yup," I answered with a proud smile.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES..." Pamela gawked.

Valkyrie is a Koenigsegg One:1 (one to one).

"Valkyrie, show 'em what you got," I said.

"With pleasure, sir," she acknowledged.

As the sound of her turbos whining at high pitched pierced the glass when she punched down her accelerator, she advanced forward alone and she shifted into sixth gear. She activated ESF, electricity conducted on her carbon fiber body flowed out to form blue sparks. We watched the majestic she-beast take down her prey, ramming the sedan to the left and watched it repel to the other side of the highway. She quickly then hits two Audi R8s, Shock Rammed another one and pushed it to the side of the road, and EMP-d another and pulled off the PIT maneuver to it.

She reactivated ESF and swept three more cars off the highway in an instant, then nudged her front end into the back of another R8 hard and Shock Rammed it, sending it to the grass flying and rolled.

She decided to eliminate another two by deploying spike strips. She overtook a row of Technologist cars and released them, and it was driven over. When it came for us, Russell Shock Rammed it away into the grass.

I commanded us to move in. Meanwhile, Valkyrie slammed into the side of the final R8 and grinded with it for a few seconds. She and the German supercar let go for a while as as we overtook them, getting close to the two target Cayennes.

"Eighty meters and closing," Pinky informed.

My fighting spirit was so raised. "Let's get them girls back," I said.

We nitroused to the SUVs in a straight. Valkyrie finally got the Audi to spin out, breaking the barrier and crashed into a European semi-truck at the opposite side of traffic. She managed to catch up to us, and drove behind Pierre.

"We can't take them down the hard way," Geronimo advised. "The women are inside, we wouldn't want to harm them."

"We can EMP them," I proposed. "You can adjust the blast power to low to avoid messing up the cars' handling. Geronimo, Russell? Will you do the honors?"

They locked on their EMPs to the two enemy SUVs. "We're locked on the targets," said the Irishman.

Just when we were nearing our victory. Unexpectedly, the HUD started to whizz out. "Danny, what's happening to the HUD?" Thea asked.

"Yeah...bzzz...happening...bzzz...all of us," Pandora stated, her squeaks filled with static.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" I exclaimed.

The numbers on the speedometer displayed false speed, the minimap had static interference, and then all of it just disappeared.

"Sir, all of our systems have been jammed," Pierre reported.

"How long is it gonna take to reboot them all?"

"We prioritized on communications. Sixty seconds until the weapon systems are back online."

"What do we have that's not affected?"

"Nothing. Nitrous, SuperNOS, not even the radio nor the active aerodynamics."

Then at the worst possible moment, orange flames spat out of the Cayennes' tailpipes. If they still had implemented my father's stolen technology from the family Panamera, orange meant SuperNOS V1.

"Oh no... My dad's SuperNOS." I muttered.

They pulled away from us, 50 meters per second. "They're getting away," Pinky said. "Fifty, hundred, two hundred..."

"We can't catch up unless we have nitrous!" Hussein stressed.

They slowly faded away into the darkness. Only their taillights were visible as two pairs of dots.

"...four hundred, four fifty... We've lost visual," Pinky declared.

"Are the Roofjets picking up anything?" I wondered.

"No. Anton's HUD is back on, but there's no feed coming from the camera."

"Bugger... We were so close," Russell mumbled.

We couldn't do anything. I stared long into the road after our failure.


	13. Chapter 13-Under Siege

**A/N: Malaysianpro back with another chapter for you! I'm sorry for the delay, writer's block got to me. Welp, let's just get to the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimers from past stories and/or chapter will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Under Siege **

**Interpol Headquarters - Lyon, France**

**Friday - March 28, 2014**

**0017 hours - 5 hours later**

We turned to the headquarters after the pursuit. Foreseeing that we wouldn't get any sleep for the next six hours, we fell asleep in our cars as they did the driving to Lyon.

All of us had to report ourselves in the conference room for another emergency meeting after we arrived in the dead of night. When we entered, there were only three people: Kobel, Antoine, and Roux (as well as some other agents guarding). Geronimo gave her a long glare as we all walked in. The others settled into their chairs while I stayed outside to company Pinky, and phoned Prof Philips after being excused by Geronimo. Russell went down to the Ops Command early to get some Zs.

Anyway, Geronimo still made his way to his chair near Kobel slowly while giving Roux one of his death stares. Roux reacted to this by looking at Antoine worriedly.

"How the hell did you let them escape?!" Kobel hacked as they entered. As usual, he took his spot as the chairman at the end of the conference table.

He stopped glaring and pulled his chair after unbuttoning his jacket. "With all due respect, sir, we didn't let them escape. They evaded us." He seated himself. He put his serious face on and said, "We apologize for our failure, we really did the best we could."

"Depending on what organization got to them, then I will make an exception."

"In that case, we have confirmation that The Technologists have returned. During the pursuit, their vehicles had the weapons of Hisham Sidik's vehicle technology they stole from his family car." Hisham Sidik was my father.

Kobel arched his eyebrows. "I'm surprised. You and your team had experiences confronting with them, so I expected more from you, being one of the most elite teams in the agency."

"Well, it seems that we need to up our game. The Technologists certainly have grown stronger after their months of silence."

A brief silence filled with breathing entered the atmosphere. "Are the remaining two okay?" Kobel asked.

"Thank God, they are," Hussein replied.

"How'd it happen?"

"It was a planned ambush," Hussein simplified. "When we had a green light at Quai Brainly, two SUVs came in and t-boned the limousines. Then came out armed men, and they shot the escorts dead including the limo driver. That's when we engaged Code 3."

"How did they escape?"

"We caught up to their vehicles after we eliminated thirty cars defending them," Thea answered. "They hit us with a jammer, and all the electronic systems went down, disabling the weapons and nitrous. Then they nitroused out of sight."

"Any idea where they might've taken them to?"

"Ze L'Aquitaine connects Paris and Bordeaux," Colette cut in. "But there are possibilities zat zhey have exited off elsewhere; Orleans, Tours... So, non."

Kobel sighed. "This is worse than I had expected. The Technologists resurrecting, information leaked... The mole is on to us. Four women gone in less than forty-eight hours. I can't have this happening anymore." Here comes the shocking news. "I have no choice... I'm cancelling the fashion week."

"What?!" Roux exclaimed.

"We can't have more of them going missing, Roux. If we do, we risk more government intel possibly getting leaked. This was hard for me to decide, but considering the circumstances... Stilton, I'm giving you and your team one more chance to prove yourself and redeem for what happened tonight."

Trap squeaked up for everyone, "Us? One more chance? With all due respect, Mr. General Secretariat, I speak for myself and on behalf of my teammates that none of this was our fault! The ones who failed you were the escorts! We never had anything to do with the second abduction, Geronimo and Hussein just happened to be with the contestants and volunteered to escort them." I tell ya, Trap may not be smart, be he had a sense of reason.

"But once you take charge of a situation, you take the responsibility with you and never let go," Kobel said. "So this makes it partially your fault. I'm putting you all in charge of the security of the remaining designers. Stilton, what's your next move?"

"We won't need anymore improvements in the security details," Geronimo began. "All we have to change are the ones who are guarding. We need to collaborate with multiple agencies and request for highly trained personnel."

"There's also the matter of eradicating the mole," Benjamin added. "If we can't get rid of him or her, it'll be easier for them to counter our security measures.

"Problem is, have you found the mole?" Kobel questioned.

"I have reason to believe we have," Geronimo squeaked. "And she is in this room as we speak." He gave another short glare at Roux as he took out his iPhone and selected a video from his Gallery. "That's the interrogation footage of the drug dealer we found on the Deep Web." He slid the phone to Kobel on its backside and then he played it, volume turned to full blast.

"_Who did you last sold the drug to_?" Geronimo demanded in the video.

Blanc frowned. "_Let me think, my memory is a bit fuzzy... It was...uh..._"

"_Blanc_?" Hussein called.

"_No, wait, I think I am getting something..._"

Geronimo glanced at his watch "_Blanc_?"

"_No, wait! I am getting something!_"

"_Did he or she mention a name, Blanc?_" Hussein snapped again.

Blanc stopped to recall. "_Ah! Now that you said it, SHE actually did. She said her name was Roux_."

Kobel immediately frowned and turned to Roux. Roux reacted by gasping when she heard her name.

Geronimo and Hussein exchanged shocked looks. "_Could you give a description about her? Any distinct ones?_" Geronimo asked.

Blanc took another moment to fetch how her appearance was. "_I can never forget about ze unique shade of red on her shoulder length hair..._"

"_When did you run the deal with her?_" Geronimo interrogated.

"_Sunday, March twenty-third. Midnight._"

The video ended. "Roux?"

"What?! How could it be me?! _Monsieur_ Kobel, it was not! I swear!" Roux defended herself.

"Then why did Gustav mention your name and the exact same hair color and style as yours?" Geronimo questioned.

"How should I know?! Maybe someone wants to frame me!"

"That's possible," Kobel supported. "But you can't prove that, so we can't rule you out as a suspect."

"Besides, why not?" Hussein said. "You're the organizer of the fashion week itself. Of course you knew where they stayed at, when they traveled to places, what they traveled in... And you had the right to know what Interpol knew so you had a little info on security details via Kobel."

"Zat is... true," she admitted. "But why would I do such things? What could I possibly gain by feeding info to zees... Technologists?"

Geronimo started to catch up on the idea and remembered what the old enemies offered. "What else...? Money. It's all everyone ever wanted. The Technologists could offer several times as much payment from your project tender Interpol offered you."

"...Yes, sure... I mean, who doesn't? But I'm not that greedy!"

"I've heard enough," Kobel stopped. "Roux, until you prove yourself not guilty, I have no choice but to put you under custody. Stilton?"

"Clara Devareaux, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit kidnapping," Geronimo announced, standing up. It was the first time her name was revealed to everyone.

Kobel ordered his agents to cuff Roux and bring her down to the interrogation room. "No, wait!" Roux pleaded as she resisted the agents. Even Antoine tried to hold her back. "Zis has to be a mistake!" She was dragged out of the conference room as every eye in there followed and passed both Pinky and I.

"I can't believe this... She was right under our noses," said Kobel. "Antoine, you can leave." He stood up and left, looking sorrow as he bumped into me and Pinky.

That's when I stepped in with her. "But we can't accuse her as the mole just yet," I started, walking in.

"Arif? Where the hell have you been?"

"That's what I'm here to tell you. I phoned Prof Philips outside. I told him about a light disturbance in The Force I felt while broadcasting Night Three and it was urging me to the stage. He told me that it could be the mole. But when Roux went by me as she was taken by the agents, I felt nothing."

"So you're saying that we may have the wrong person?"

"Correct, sir."

Kobel let our a breath. "Let's put it this way; you all interrogate her first, then if you have confirmation about her not being the mole, then we rule her out. Take a rest first in your Ops Command, you must be tired from chasing."

"Yes, sir," Geronimo complied.

He then notices Pinky standing behind me. Good thing she had a visitor's badge clipped on her sweater's collar. "Who's this, now?" Kobel said.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I forgot to introduce. This is my friend, Pinky Pick. She was the one who helped us find the drug dealer, and the one who strategized the pursuit."

I stepped backed and let her introduce herself as she stood up straight like a soldier. "Pinky Pick, assistant of Geronimo Stilton, expert in hacking and information technology, and amateur field operations strategist. At your service, Mr. Secretariat."

"At ease," Kobel said. "So you were the one helping them?"

"Affirmative."

Kobel nodded and smiled. "You could be useful, Miss Pick. We need more people like you. Arif, she's a keeper. I'm deputising her as a junior agent, if she doesn't mind."

"Really, sir? I'd be honored!" she expressed.

He nodded. "Now get rested. We've got a big day in a few hours. Interrogation starts at four. Meanwhile, I gotta figure out what to say to the Australian Army and the FSB..."

* * *

Down at the Ops Command, most of us were fast asleep on the couches and swivel chairs. Geronimo sat sleeping on a chair while bringing his paws together and legs crossed like he was concentrating, four of the Thea Sisters claimed the long couch to themselves and slept while leaning against each other, and Pandora took the easy chair, putting her head on the armrest.

The only ones who were awake and couldn't sleep were me, Hussein, Pamela, Thea, Benjamin, and Pinky. We were in the kitchen, sitting by the counter holding a glass of milk each.

"Twelve-thirty and still can't sleep," I said. I never had eye bags before, so this was the first time. Light ones.

"Milk is the last resort, so if this won't work, I don't know what will," Thea stated exhaustedly.

"To a good night's rest," Pinky said, holding up her glass.

We clanged our glasses the toast, and gulped some of the cold milk down.

"So, Dan," Hussein started. "While we wait for the milk to take effect, why don't you tell is about the new 'asset' you just required?"

Pamela placed a palm on her cheek and was reminded. "Oh, Gouda... I'm so sleepy, I forgot about the Koenigsegg that showed up out of nowhere in the Code 3!"

"Yeah, why don't you introduce us to the One...to One (One:1)?" Benjamin urged.

I chuckled lightly. "Alright... Her name is Valkyrie, she's a Koenigsegg One:1."

"Where'd you acquire her?" Thea asked.

"Well, when Koenigsegg debuted the One:1 at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, they said that all six of them were sold. So... I got a close up on the display model, took out the portable cloner from my pocket and quietly scanned the car... And there you go."

"Ooh... Sneaky lil' Danny!" Pinky described me as the others looked surprised.

"This is the first time I took one of her clones out for a drive... pursuit if I may, and... I know I'm gonna get in trouble with paparazzi."

"You've got a lot of explaining to do..." Pamela added.

"Weapons and defense systems?" Benjamin simply asked.

"Defense systems are the same as others... bulletproof windows and body panels... bla bla. Weapons? I only had to include electronic warfare. EMP, ESF, Shock Ram, EMP shield... also spike strips. She doesn't have a Roofjet because Koenigsegg had sacrifice it for a roof scoop, and I couldn't add the turrets either because that'll affect the one to one power-to-weight ratio. What am I talking about, it already is. Just not that much." I took another drink on the milk.

"So, anything performance related you wanna tell me?" Hussein chimed.

"Her weight is now at 1385 kilograms; so that she lives up to her model name, I amped the power output of the V8 to 1385 horsepower. I converted her to run on E85 biofuel, so that boosted her by ten horsepower, and added nitrous oxide. There's still also SuperNOS which could make her accelerate for eight seconds. She can do zero to sixty in 2.3 seconds with improved traction control and her top speed is now 455 kilometres an hour."

"Looks like Pierre's getting some competition..." said Thea.

"He is, but he's still my best car."

* * *

**0300 hours**

I was of course fast asleep on a swivel chair after the milk, and when Geronimo woke me up to observe the interrogation, I found Pinky taking advantage of my unawareness and snoozed beside me. Yeah... I know what was her game.

I left her that way, took a cold shower (freaking froze my but off), dressed in my usual t-shirt under a buttoned plaid shirt with folded sleeves up to the upper arm and black denim jeans with red sneakers.

I gazed into the large screen while standing by the computer desk, lost in thought while staring at Roux from the interrogation room's camera feed. It was a matter of time for Geronimo and Hussein to emerge behind the door, so I waited for them and grabbed a rose apple from the fridge and bit into it with a crunch.

I wasn't aware at the time (the Force usually makes me aware) that Thea had woken up silently from her slumber and crept up from behind me.

"Hey..." she said, her squeak barely heard under her breath because she was so tuckered out.

I turned my head, seeing her still in her dress she was supposed to wear for Night Four. "Oh, hey," I replied. "Get enough sleep?"

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I wish... Looks like I'm just in time for the interrogation?"

"A little early, but I'd have to agree on that."

She cracked a smile. "I saw you up, so I thought that I'd keep you company."

I smiled back. "Thoughtful."

"So, with all of this happening and all of our focus is directed to protecting the designers, how will this effect your practice sessions with Benjamin for Pandora's surprise?"

My smile faded and I sighed. "Well... We have to cancel and best hope that we perform well with the practice we've already done. Or in the worst case scenario, we might not make it back to New Mouse City at all for the talent show. That's gonna ruin the whole plan."

She arched an eyebrow. "We'll make sure we get this done quickly and still have time to get back for the talent show."

"Oh, it's not me that you'll have to worry about. It's Benjamin." We both looked at him on a swivel chair near the glass door of the database servers. "He planned this surprise special for Pandora because at that night is the tenth anniversary of the first time they both met. He wants to give her something that she'll never forget."

"Well, as I said. We'll do the best we can to get this done." She patted me on the shoulder. "Alright? Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go shower."

"You got clothes?"

"Well, Kobel stocked some emergency ones in here. Hope they suit me."

She started to step away. "Ay, heads up. Water's cold as ice, it's gonna freeze you to the tip of your tail."

"Gee, thanks..."

* * *

Shortly, she came back and joined me; dressed in her usual black jacket over a pink polo shirt and dark grey trousers. She got herself a packet of cheese cracker sandwiches and observed beside me.

We saw Geronimo go through the door in a new black suit, behind him was Hussein in black blank tee and jeans.

Roux fell asleep and rested her head on the table; so Hussein tapped on the top with his nail to get her up. "Time to wake up, Roux," said Hussein.

She moaned at first as a response, then lifted her head up as she yawned, and stretched her arms in the air. "What time is it?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes.

Hussein checked is watch. "Three-twelve a.m.. Slept well?"

"Non."

"Well, you had your chance."

"Now, tell us what we need to know," Geronimo demanded.

"Where'd they take the women?" Hussein interrogated.

She sighed in annoyance. "I am telling you, I am not ze mole you are looking for."

"Then how come the drug dealer we arrested said that you were the one he last sold the drugs to?"

"Drugs for what?"

"We found traces of sedatives absorbed on the pillow of one of the victims," Hussein clarified.

"Oh... Ugh, how should I know?! Maybe someone wants to frame me!"

"You tell us who it was, and maybe we can look into it and rule you out."

"Oh... I do not know... I do not know any enemies, or at least zat is what I know. I try to be nice to everyone as much as I can. Maybe someone disguised herself as moi so she does not get herself caught."

"Who else in this world would look like you, Miss Devareaux?" Geronimo asked gently.

"Are you not aware zat rubber masks can make you look like anyone except for you, Monsieur Stilton?"

"That's Agent Stilton, to you."

"Whatever... And about ze hair, wig stores all over France sell them in ze same color and style."

"Well G, we tried that," Hussein said. "Where were you at midnight March 22?"

"I cannot say."

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Geronimo punned.

"Aha... Non. It is personal."

"How personal?" Hussein asked.

"Very personal."

"Very well, have it your way," Geronimo said. "But know this; we can't eliminate you as a suspect since you don't have an alibi."

Roux gave up the info, blowing out a breath first. "Mon Dieu... Fine. I... was..."

"Yes?"

"...sleeping with Antoine at his place."

Hussein's face looked surprised and at the same time disgusted. "Really?" he uttered.

"You looked surprised, Agent Hussein," Roux stated. "Why is zat? You've never slept with anyone before?"

Hussein felt offended. "Wha- uh- What?!" he snapped. "Heck no, woman! Of course not! I'm a Muslim! I ain't allowed to do such things! I've got my dignity."

"Well, since you seem to be what ze Americans call 'beefcakes', I thought zat you may have lost your-"

"Okay, can you stop? Can we stop talking about that?" Hussein sighed in frustration and embarrassment and pinched the bridge of his nose. "G, why don't you settle this? I'm gonna step out for a bit..."

He went out, and silence filled the air as they watch him leave, then they gave each other awkward looks. "Ooo...kay, moving on. Can anyone confirm your alibi?" Geronimo continued.

"Who else? Antoine."

* * *

**0350 hours**

Geronimo and Hussein went back down to the Ops Command after getting Antoine's statement. Everyone was up and getting ready for the day. "So, what'd you get out of the guy?" Thea asked.

"Roux's alibi checks out," Geronimo answered in disdain. "She was with Antoine when the deal went down."

"This is getting nowhere," Hussein said. "Who was the one buying the drugs if it wasn't her?"

"Let's not give up hope just yet," I motivated, making early breakfast in the kitchen for everyone. "We still have the leads from before."

"The boy's right," Russell agreed, coming out of the men's changing room. "The General Secretariat filled me in about the clues you've found. What about the blond hair sample you said you found in a stolen Renault Mégane?"

Benjamin appeared after him and answered. "It hasn't come back yet. If she's somewhere in Interpol's database, results will show up at noon."

"So, what are we doing in the meantime?" Nicky asked, walking out of the women's changing room.

"I got an idea," Pinky chimed, behind Nicky. "We don't have an exact facial description of the buyer yet. You should try digging into Gustav again."

Geronimo cracked a smile. "For one so annoying, you have a brilliant mind, Pinky. I'll get that French detective, André Gaston to interrogate along with a sketch artist." He took out his phone, and got on the line with the detective.

Out of the blue, Pinky's stomach starts to growl, audible to everyone in the Ops Command. Everyone looked at her. "Sorry! I haven't had dinner before we went on the pursuit."

"I just realized, all of us haven't eaten," Trap pointed out. Amazing that he could hold his hunger for such a long time...or...he snuck into the fridge when everyone was busy readying for the event, and ate some cheese.

"Then why did you think I was here in the kitchen for?" I said, taking a baking tray out of the oven. "Everyone gather 'round, croissants fresh from the oven!"

Everyone swarmed the tray and grabbed a plate as I divided the croissants equally to everyone.

After they emptied the tray (except for Geronimo which he left a croissant for himself), they all went to eat at different places while I was left alone with Pinky again, sitting side by side at the kitchen counter. That's when I knew that they were planning something.

Anyway, Pinky was the one who started the conversation. "So Dan, tell me what you've got on this case regarding the Force," she demanded. She was wearing a pink long sleeve t-shirt, a white frilly skirt, a pair of white tights her pink sneakers.

"Come again?" I asked her back after swallowing a bit of my croissant.

"What has the Force told you about this case?"

"Well," I rested my fork down on the plate and wiped my mouth with a napkin, "for starters, during the first night before the abductions even started, the Force lead me to an imminent danger. I found a blonde woman in a balaclava with her ponytail outside planting a device on one of the Eiffel Tower's legs. We tried to look for it after she got away in a stolen Renault, but it disappeared."

"What did you think it was?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it was a bomb." She arched her eyebrows in shock. "The next day when we found the Renault, I sensed that the same woman was there outside the crime scene, spying on us."

"She was challenging you," Pinky analyzed.

"Yup. And at the second night, I passed out of an anxiety attack when we raced to the rooms of the first two victims. The Force warned me so Geronimo tightened security at their suites, but that failed too."

"What else?"

"Third night, I felt a light ripple in the Force. It allured me to the stage. Nothing else ever since."

"What about when you passed out at the Gazette in mid-February? You were out for one whole day."

"Yeah, that too. I think it was related to something about this, but I just don't know what."

"And the ripples? What did Prof Philips say?"

"He said that the ripples give me clues, and this particular clue is a traitor. I think we might be looking at our mole." I took a sip of my freshly juiced orange juice. "Alright, enough about that. I... need to ask you a favor."

"What is it?"

"Come closer." We leaned closer to each other. "You know that Benjamin and Pandora had a crush on each other and they don't know it yet?" I whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Benjamin's gonna finally propose to her on the night of the tenth anniversary of the first day they met by singing her a song in the school's talent show."

She gasped. "Really?!" I nodded her response. "OH MY GOUDA-"

I quickly covered her mouth completely with my right hand so she didn't blow it.

She finally cooled down and continued. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to host a live stream on the Gazette's website on that night featuring me, Benjamin, and a friend playing on stage for her."

"That's a great idea! Let his fans know that he's coupled! But, I need to spread the word by setting up the stream page early. What if she accesses the site and knows about it?"

"That's another thing I need you to do. I need you to block her phone from accessing the site, make it look like the site is down for maintainence."

She paused to process a thought, then smirked. "I can do that."

"Thanks Pinky! You're a life saver."

Geronimo finally got off the phone after a second phone call and made an announcement. "Okay, everyone listen up. Finish up your croissants and gear up; we're going back to Paris to transport the remaining designers to their safehouses."

Everybody complied and lifted themselves up, straight to the armory.

"I don't care if you're letting me or not, I'm coming along," Russell insisted.

"When do we leave?" Thea wondered, on her way.

"ASAP. We need to get there by seven, and the transport should move at eight. We're driving at Code 3 not more than a hundred thirty miles an hour."

"What about Pinky?" Pandora said. She already had her gun tucked in her holster.

Geronimo looked at Pinky for a short while and inhaled. "I... suppose that it wouldn't hurt if she tagged along."

"Yes!" she celebrated, pumping a fist.

"As long as she doesn't ride with me."

"Who's she supposed ride with, then?" I said.

"There's Nicky, Pamela, and Russell..." Benjamin suggested, out of the armory with a gun holstered on his hip and another pistol in paw, held by the front end. "They drive solo. Maybe you can hitch a ride with them. Danny, catch." He flung the gun in the air, and I caught it by the grip.

I admired it for a second. "Ah, the USP45. My favorite pistol. Thanks Benjy!"

Hussein appeared out of the armory as well, fixing the position of his holster. "I think I'm gonna ride with Pam for now. It's been a while, and we never had a chance to catch up. Sorry, Pinks."

"Can't I ride with you instead?" pleaded Pinky. She had sparkling in her puppy eyes.

Usually, Thea and I enjoyed and preferred driving with me. "Uh... Thea?"

She came out, holstering her gun. "I don't mind, I can ride with G."

"I guess you're with me, then," I told.

That filled her with joy for some reason. "YAY!" she cheered. Unexpectedly, she wrapped her arms around me in a warm hug. Everyone was already out of the armory and witnessed the event, looking at us. Admiring us.

"Aww..." Thea uttered, tilting her head and putting her paws together on her cheek.

My cheek turned red as Geronimo's tie in embarrassment. "Uh... Pinky? I know this hug feels nice and all, but, can you let go of me now?"

"Just for a little while?" she begged.

"I'll give you three seconds," I permitted. I counted the time, and she synchronized by releasing me.

"Alright, I'm good," Pinky stated.

"Okay..." Geronimo cut off, hinting a smile on his face. "If we're all set, then let's roll out." The Crew moved to the elevator and the doors slid open.

I stood up with Pinky and tailed them. "But G, you haven't had your croissant yet," I reminded.

He froze and turned around. "I almost forgot... Thank you for reminding," he said.

As we stepped into the elevator, he swiped the pastry off the tray and paced back, taking a bite. Before the doors even closed, he managed to comment, "Wow! This is scrumptious!"

* * *

**A6 Autoroute - 30 kilometers from Paris**

**0617 hours**

The sun was seen in the distance when it rose at four, and it was the mark of a new day. We sped along in formation as the wail of the sirens did their job of warning oncoming civilian vehicles,that we were in an emergency. Not that it did much, there weren't much cars on the lonely Autoroute de Soleil.

We were nearing Paris faster than usual. For the first time, everyone who were behind the wheel kept their focus and did not fall asleep and let their cars drive for them, including me. (I should thank Pinky for that, she kept me awake by doing all sorts of things to keep me up.)

At the current moment, she told me about her experiences in playing the video games I produced. "And then in this one game I joined, there was this one guy who constantly flirts with every girl he meets. He found out about me, of course, and he started to flirt, classic stuff. When the game started, he would follow me every step I take, and it was annoying!"

"I feel ya, Pinks. I had this fangirl who knew that I was playing, and kept tailing me for the rest of the match," I shared. Forgot that I was famouse, did ya?

"So I decided to get him back in the next match. It was a team deathmatch, him and I were on opposite factions."

"Did it end well?"

"Not-at-all. For him, at least. Ah... He was a try-hard, alright. Every time he tried to get me, I'd get him back. Most of my kills were towards him; thirty-five shots to the nuts."

"Who won?"

"My team did. I had forty kills, and he got a negative one while trying to kill me alone."

"Where'd the negative come from?"

"I was scoping at a window for him, saw nothing. And then I heard footsteps at the place I camped, turned around, and saw him. He had been cooking a grenade in his hand and threw it, but I jumped out the window. He couldn't get to cover quick enough, so it exploded right I front of him, instant suicide."

Then Geronimo decided to butt in at the worst moment. "Attention all units, advised to check your screens, now."

Pinky pinched her fingers out wards and revealed the holographic display hovering above the dashboard. It displayed CNN, that he must've shared to all cars of our convoy. The news given by the female anchor was the most horrifying and unbelievable.

"We've been receiving reports of attacks currently happening in France in ten different places. The attackers have been identified as the once-fallen British extremist terrorist organization know as The Technologists. Active since 2011 and after a long hiatus until 2013, they were the ones behind the attacks of the 2011 Weapons Expo in Los Angeles, and the recent McCarran Disaster at McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada that took the lives of 400 people. Currently, these attacks in France have caused a total of 236 reported deaths and left 389 injured. These attacks began simultaneously with bombings in Rennes, Bordeaux, Le Mans, and Orleans at 5.30 a.m., and they have been under siege along with Saint-Cyprien Plage, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Port Marseille-Fos, and Nice. The rest are small farms and universities around Liffré."

I looked at Pinky the same way she looked at me; panicked.

"Police and GIGN are at the scene controlling and suppressing the militants in exchange of fire between these two factions. French president, Francois Hollande had declared the country in the state of national emergency, and civilians are advised to stay indoors."

"Bloody hell..." Russell muttered out to the comms.

After that, it was happening again. All the sweating, an abnormal heart rate, hyperventilation, and started to feel like passing out. I felt another disturbance in the Force.

Pierre felt the symptoms as well through neuro-connectors found in the seats, connecting to my spinal cord. "Sir, I detect that you're heart rate is increasing rapidly. Are you alright?" A heart rate meter popped up on the HUD, displaying my heart's BPM.

I felt short of breath, feeling like I was deprived of oxygen and started to breath heavily and gasped for air. I couldn't concentrate, so I turned on autopilot. "Pierre, you take the wheel," I ordered.

Pinky got worried and leaned over the console to check on me. "Danny? Are you okay?" she asked. "Danny! What's going on?!"

"Danny?!" Thea called out.

"He's having a mild panic attack, Miss Pick," Pierre explained.

"Danny, I know you're sensing a disturbance! Tell us what it is!" Pinky demanded.

In between all the panting, I could only answer weakly, "I sense..." pant, "the designers..." pant, "they're in danger..." pant, "We need to get to them..." pant, "before they do..."

"Who?"

"...The Technologists!"

"Geronimo, you heard the Jedi!" Hussein said. "You think we can speed this convoy up a little bit?"

"Considering the circumstances, I don't think we have a choice," he replied. "Onward, Crew! Full throttle!"

From 130, we climbed to 200 in three seconds. "Pierre, quick! Is there anything that can calm him down?" Pinky demanded.

"Music and mental support would be highly suggested," he responded.

"Great! What's in the music library that's soothing?"

"Not much, he mostly listens to dubstep."

"That's not gonna work, anything piano?"

"Some, but mostly Synthesia remixes downloaded off of YouTube."

"Get me anything you can!"

"Playing River Flows In You by Yiruma, remixed by BobGmBH."

The song played, and Pinky tried to get my hypes down as much as she could.

* * *

**Hotel Shangri-La, Paris**

**0659 hours**

We arrived at the hotel right on time. We parked the cars outside on the road because there was plenty of space since the road was closed. The designers' transport SWAT trucks were ready, waiting at the hotel entrance gate with police escorts standing by behind and in front, riding motorcycles and patrol cars. Armed and armored GIGN personnel stood guard at the gates on either side, and more lined up to form a path from the door.

We marched in quickly in the path, flashing our badges to the guards and stated on Pinky's behalf that she was a deputy. At the door, a GIGN agent in full body armor with a rifle strapped on his back welcomed us. "Bonjour, Monsieur Stilton. I am Philipe DuMans," he introduced himself.

"I need a sitrep, Agent DuMans," Geronimo demanded, walking along into the hotel.

"Since ze siege of the ten cities, we locked down ze building, nobody goes in or out. Not even their rooms."

Geronimo pushed the door open and let everyone in first before continuing. "The designers?"

"They are still in their suites. We just woke zem up about half an hour ago."

"Half an hour ago?" Colette interrupted, chuckling. "Then expect to wait another half an hour. You know how long women take to get ready."

We stopped in front of the elevator, and Geronimo pushed the up button. "The transport and escorts? Are they all trustworthy?"

"We investigated every one of our agents involved in zis operation. We did a polygraph test, everyone came clean."

"Tell them to get ready. I'm making the convoy leave early because of the attacks." The agent nooded. Then he spoke some orders into the walkie talkie clipped on his shoulder in French.

The head of the team turned to us. "Russell, Trap, Hussein, the Thea Sisters and I will check on them. The rest of you will patrol the hotel. Danny, if you sense something, don't hesitate to contact me."

"Roger that," I complied.

The doors opened and they went in. "You have half an hour. After that, we rendezvous at the suites."

I turned to the others when the doors shut, and they look ready as ever. "So, ready to find the mole?" I asked them.

"Whoever that's been exposing intel is gonna be busted," Benjamin said confidently.

"We got a lot of ground to cover," Thea stated, having her left arm akimbo. "Still have the floor plans in your head?"

"You know I do," I said, tapping the side of my head.

"Alright, to those with weapons, keep 'em tight and concealed. We won't wanna spook any guests," she instructed.

"Let's go," Pinky squeaked.

We began searching in the ground floor, paced through the empty hallways into the ballroom, went in the kitchen just to look around, then off to the pools and spa, then the management offices. It took us ten minutes to finish the task. Once we had swept the ground floor, we moved on to the second floor.

After three floors and 20 minutes later with nothing felt or found, it was time to canvas the fifth and final floor of the hotel. "This one has GOT to be it," Benjamin said, following the opening doors.

We got off and continued straight. "It's has to be," Thea emphasized. "Who stays in this floor, Danny?"

I checked the plans in my vision's HUD. "Related to the event itself? The models of the designers. It'll be surprising the mole was one of them."

We couldn't even get a step past the first suite when Geronimo suddenly rang. "Hold up a sec, guys," I said. Then I held up a finger on the temple to answer the call with the microchip. "What's up, G?"

"Have you felt anything?"

"We uh... scoured the first four floors including the ground floor, and we found nothing. We're trying our luck in the fourth."

"Well, times up. We need all of you back here to escort the packages to the transport."

"On our way." I hung up. "Geronimo wants us to meet him with the designers. They're ready for transport."

"So much for that..." Pandora said.

We turned back and made our way down one floor, where Geronimo greeted us when the doors revealed him. "I really wish that I had more time to give you to look around," he began regretfully.

We stepped out and took a stroll. "Well, priorities are priorities," I said to him. "So, this is a straight forward escort? From here to transport?"

"Yes. Then we'll leave the rest to GIGN while we investigate who our mole is." I nodded at his plan.

We saw both designers out of their suites, with armed GIGN personnel flooding the hallway. MI6's Patricia Hart stood further away at her suite, while The Thea Sisters surrounded Julie, saying their final goodbyes to each other. "We hope you that you and Patricia get to your safehouses safely," Pamela said.

"I hope so as well," Julie replied. "It has been wonderful seeing you again, mouselets. I will contact you when all of zis is over."

"Wait," Colette cut off. She reached for something at her ankle and brought it out. "Prendre ce Taser. Utiliser si quelque chose va mal pendant votre voyage."

Colette pawed the stun gun over to Julie, and she nodded in acknowledgement. "Oui. Merci."

The silence was filled with smacks of friendly kisses, and they hug each other for one final time. Colette's hug was the longest.

"I haven't seen a friendship that strong in a long time," I pointed out, watching them from a distance with the gang.

"What about you and me?" Thea asked.

At that moment, I never thought of that. "We just met six months ago, but I'll count that is one. Friendships like me and Benjamin, now that's a strong long distance friendship."

"That's no big deal," Pandora boasted. "Look at me and Benjamin! We've been besties for nearly ten years."

"Now THAT is strong," Thea said. "I still remember you telling me that you made a new friend on your first day of kindergarten."

Benjamin suddenly brought up something. "Hate to bring something back from the past, but what about you and Firas? From what you've told me, he was just like a brother to you."

Frankly, I didn't mind about him asking that. "Honestly, I never even cared about what he did to me. I felt betrayed, sure, but... he was the only person closest to a family before you guys."

Geronimo couldn't have chosen a better timing to ruin the nostalgic moment; he stepped in and handed us earpieces except for me. "Wireless," he told. "Keep in touch, Danny."

"I will."

He turned to the Thea Sisters. "Colette!" he called. She responded and saw him made a head gesture that meant 'c'mon'. The girls paced back to us including Julie and Patricia, escorted by GIGN agents.

"Ze convoy is ready to move. We roll out in ten minutes," Agent DuMans reported.

"Alright, Crew. Let's move," Geronimo ordered. Julie and Patricia walk passed us first, followed by some agents. Then we proceeded.

Some guards formed a route for us to go through. They blocked the elevator and directed us to the stairwell. "Wait, we're not catching a ride in the elevator?" Trap asked.

"Of course not," Russell said. "You really thought that all of us would fit into that?"

"Hey, I'm not that fat, you know?!" Trap snapped. "Just sayin'..."

Not even a step into the stairwell, I sensed ripples within the Force. "Everyone, hold up!" I alerted, stopping everybody.

I kept quiet until Geronimo climbed back up a few steps to get to me. "Danny, what is it?" he squeaked.

"I sense something... And it's strong," I said.

"The mole?"

"No... this is something else." I felt the adrenaline rush through my throbbing veins as my heart started to race. And the Force was pulling me towards something. "Get the packages to the transport. Thea, Pinky, Benjy, Pandora? You guys are with me. C'mon!" I rushed back up with them, running in the hallway to where the Force was leading me to.

"You heard the boy, LET'S MOVE IT!" Geronimo ordered.

They started to descend the stairs quickly to get to the trucks outside. And one of the GIGN agents asked his partner; "Rappelez-moi ce que l'enfant est en train de faire dans cette opération?" He asked what was I doing in this operation.

I patched my signal into his earpiece and replied, "Je l'ai entendu!"

Meanwhile, we kept running in the hall, with every step we took the attraction got stronger and stronger until it gave me goosebumps. We reached the end of the hallway, and at the wall was a small window, outside it was a platform for a fire escape. "It's pulling me towards the outside, at the back of the building in the alley," I said, peering at the right side at the window. "We need to get out of this hotel."

"There's no time to make it back down and go 'round back!" Benjamin said hopelessly.

"There's a fire escape here. We can use that," I proposed.

"Good idea," Thea agreed. She took the lead and opened the window, bringing one leg out and set it on the platform, squeezing her body and head through then folded her other leg flexibly on the sill, and wiggled her paw to get it out. "C'mon, I'll help you get out here."

Taking turns, Benjamin and I let the ladies through first. Thea lifted Pinky up as she brought herself out, then both helped Pandora squeeze through. After that, Benjamin hopped on the sill and vaulted over, and came last was me; having trouble getting out. I tried Thea's way, but the sill was so thin, it left a pain in my groin when I sat on it.

"You alright, Dan?" Thea asked.

"I'll survive," I replied. "Let's go."

We ran down the stairs, skipping a step. I jumped off where there was no more stair left and touched down with the Force compensating. I pulled the extendable ladder for the others to get down.

"Straight ahead, far side of the hotel," I directed.

We ventured deeper into the alley, sneaking by trash cans and peering at every gap. We became vigilant and cautious for anything that we might discover at the source.

"Danny, progress?" Geronimo demanded.

"We're in an alley at the back of the building, how're you doing?"

"Second floor, almost at the first."

"Hurry!"

"On it!"

We ran another 50 meters to the source. We met a corner at the edge of the building, at the same time, took note of a blotch of red substance at the bottom of my foot. I signaled the others to halt by closing my fist and crouched down to study what it was.

"What is it?" Benjamin wondered.

I turned around and looked into his eyes and uttered, "Blood."

I stood up and took out my gun while they stacked up into position with their guns in their paws (except for Pinky). I poked out my head and peeked around until I was sure that the coast was clear, then signaled them to move out.

Around the corner was just another empty alley with two green dumpsters and a catering van beside them both. The source of the disturbance came from in between the two dumpsters, so, I slowly checked them out while the others secured the perimeter.

What I found there was truly disturbing. Two men knocked out and sitting down with their legs stretched, looking somewhat dead with blood covering their foreheads. I holstered the USP45 and started to check on them. "Guys!" I called out for my friends, gesturing them to come to me.

They came right away and surrounded the area. "Great Gouda," Pinky exclaimed.

I crouched and checked their necks for a pulse. Luckily they did, so I tried shaking them to wake them up. "_Monsieur? Monsieur! Que s'est-il passé?_" I said.

"_Le convoi... Vous devez arrêter le convoi..._" The first man said weakly.

"_Pourquoi_?"

"_Nous sommes les pilotes..._"

I turned around with a fearful face. "They've been swapped..."

Thea with no hesitation contacts her brother. "Geronimo! Where are the packages now?!"

"Don't worry, they're safe in their transports and are ready to move."

"STOP THE CONVOY! I REPEAT, STOP THE CONVOY! THE DRIVERS HAVE BEEN SWAPPED!"

At Geronimo's scene, he felt that he had done the biggest mistake of his life. Everyone looked at him as his face suddenly changed from calm to grave. "STOP THOSE TRUCKS!" he ordered everyone.

He and The Crew ran after the trucks as they started to take off, avoiding the escorts. They and a few GIGN agents lined up on the road and started shooting at them. Round after round, they almost emptied their magazines but none of them popped the tires. All they could do then was just watch them drive away.

"_Non, non, non, NON!_" Colette shouted in frustration. She wouldn't give up, so she kept shooting until it was out of bullets. Even when the gun clicked on empty, she kept pulling the trigger.

"Colette," Violet called, taking hold of Colette's gun and pushed it down, "she's gone."

She started to tear up. "_MERDE!_" she swore in French, angrily smashing her Five-seveN on the ground.

Violet came to give her a hug and comforted her. "Shhhh... It's okay... It's okay..."

"G? G! Did you get them back?!" I asked.

I heard panting, hinted that they put up a fight. "I'm afraid... we didn't," he said regretfully. "We've lost them."

I heard Colette wailing out in the background. I could imagine that what happen today was the worst day in her life.

In the alleyway, I felt her pain. The pain of losing a friend. I grieved as well, wiping the sweat off my mustache and gazed blankly, lost in thought.


	14. Chapter 14-Exposed

**0748 hours**

"UNBELIEVABLE!"

Kobel had called in for a status report of the operation, and when he got the news that the designers had fallen into the hands of The Technologists, he changed from calm to a pissed off, raging bull. The entire Crew listened to Kobel and Geronimo in the lobby.

"But sir, if you'd just let us explain-" Geronimo said before getting cut off.

"I DON'T NEED TO LISTEN YOUR GODDAMN EXCUSES, STILTON!" Kobel snapped. "All I know is that I gave you one easy task to do, AND YOU BLEW IT! Now we have six, SIX, missing women in total, what am I gonna tell their agencies and families? Huh?!"

"I know we failed, but I know somehow we can make this right. If you just gave us one more chance-"

"You had your last chance when I entrusted you with that task. Your team was one of my elites, you know that? I'm really disappointed, Stilton. How could you let your guard down in the middle of an operation like this?"

I tapped into call with my chip and listened to the whole thing. I snarled up, so I walked up to Geronimo and snatched the phone from his paw. "Sir, this is Agent Arif. No disrespect but I just wanna make things clear on why the transport didn't go so well. One: we never let our guard down. Ever since our arrival, we kept a close guard of the designers, all eyes and ears open. Some of us even patrolled the hotel for suspicious activity, so again, no disrespect, don't you dare twist the fact that we stayed vigilant at all times. Two: it wasn't Agent Stilton's fault we failed. All of this was unforeseen! We didn't know something was wrong until I felt it. And for that, I take the blame. Because I sensed it too late, and I was the one who urged them to hurry to the transport. By the time we discovered about the drivers being swapped, we were to late. But mark my words: we will make it right. We WILL find and rescue them, bring 'em home. You just give us one more chance."

"I can't argue with your point..." he replied. "Fine. ONE. More. Chance. But if you so much screw this one up..."

"We won't."

A moment of silence passed. "Very well. I'll get your team right to it. Good luck." Kobel terminated the call.

"He seemed pissed..." Russell commented, having his arms crossed.

"He is," I agreed, giving Geronimo his phone back. "But I explained everything, straightened things out, and convinced him to give us another shot."

"That's good news, but in what order are we gonna do things? Catch the mole, or find the designers?" Benjamin asked.

"I think that's pretty straightforward, Benjamin," Trap clarified. "If we can catch the mole first, I BET that she has information on where The Technologists took them."

"Trap... has a point," Thea responded.

Trap carved a proud smile.

"But who should we deduct? Our suspect list is getting shorter," Paulina pointed out.

"Think," Geronimo urged, stroking his chin. "Who else has the most information about the event besides Roux?"

"Obviously not Secretary General Kobel, because Interpol's just a sponsor," Hussein theorized. "I doubt that Roux had told him about the competition in detail."

"Did Roux have any friendships? Someone she would trust enough to tell everything about the fashion week?" Russell wondered.

"Well... There's Antoine..." Hussein said.

"But he said they both met each other just a day before the first day of the fashion week," Geronimo replied. "I seriously doubt that they'd trust each other in such short time."

"Who else?" I asked.

"Well, she made a friend with one of ze contestants," Colette spoke up, her eyes mildly red after all the crying. "Julie."

I raised an eyebrow. "And you think that Julie knew all about the Fashion Week from the competition itself to the tinniest, tiniest detail?"

"I do not think, I _know _so. Because Julie told me what Roux told her, including ze security details. But impossible zat Julie was ze mole! She was a victim of ze abduction, she could not have been _l'espion_! Could she?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet until we know for sure, Colette," Pamela said. "Tell me, did she ever tell anyone about what Roux told her?"

"Well, there was zis one model of hers whom she trusted. She had ze same amount of trust Julie had given _moi. _But alas, I do not know who it is."

"Then it must be one of her models. Who else would have disguised herself as Roux if she didn't knew about her?" Geronimo squeaked. "We'll search their suite just so we could cover Danny as he senses the traitor amidst the models, and Danny will tell us who he senses, then we'll search their belongings for evidence, and arrest her."

"But if we do just one suite, the traitor will gain suspicion that we're onto her," Russell stated. "I say we search the suites of ALL designers' models to lower her suspicion when we're actually focused on just Julie's."

"Hmm... I like your idea, Russell," Geronimo supported. "We begin the search, right away. That mole is as good as trapped with nowhere to dig through."

* * *

**5th Floor, Hotel Shangri-La**

**0802 hours**

We called backup from the French police. Both French police's warrant officer and Kobel had signed search warrants, and the search teams we requested came as quick as 10 minutes, then we went up together with them to commence the search.

The Crew split up, taking different suites to search. "Keep your comms connected. Signal each other if you find something," Geronimo instructed before going to their designated suites.

Of course, I stayed behind at the hallway, getting ready to act to walk by the models as the were to be told to stand outside. Accompanying me would be the other junior agents (excluding Nicky), and Thea.

We watched the knock-and-announce procedures were done at the same time. "_Nous sommes d'Interpol!_" Paulina announced at Patricia Hart's models' suite.

The door at Melanie's models' suite swung open. "Yes?"

Russell showed his badge. "Interpol Special Agent Brock Russell."

"We have a report of suspicious activity going on," Hussein explained to one of Lemkova's models.

"..._Et nous avons un mandat pour perquisitionner les locaux," _Geronimo said to one of Julie's models.

"We need all of you to step out of your suites and stand outside in the hallway, please?" Violet ordered softly.

"Oh, of course," said one of Charlene Evans' models.

"Thank you, ma'am," replied Trap.

Then they all went straight in.

When the models all went out, I can feel the Force pulling me. It was definitely coming from one of them.

* * *

A few minutes in, we still haven't heard any news. And the hallway was just as quiet but a few whispers from the models to each other while some of the police officers kept an eye on them.

"We gotta cover up your presence here, Dan," Benjamin whispered. "Mole's gonna suspect. We're gonna need a distraction."

"Why don't we just... talk?" Pinky proposed.

"We've already got that covered," Pandora stated. "What about when he needs to walk pass the models?"

"There must be something that can get us over to the other end of the hallway," I said.

Then we all heard a loud scream with sounds of breaking glass at one of the suites at the other side of them all. We froze, looking at the direction where it was heard, and the officers took hold of their guns on reflex. Murmurs from the girls arose.

"There's one," Thea pointed, quickly unholstering her Glock 17. "Mouselets, you're with me. Pinky, stay behind us."

The rest of us unholstered our guns, and then I slipped something out from under the leg of my jeans; a concealed, silver-coated, short-barreled Mateba Unica 6 revolver with a black handle, then pawed it to Pinky. "Thanks," she muttered under her breath.

"Thea, what was that?" Her brother asked.

"Nothing, G. Just keep looking, we'll check it out," I covered.

"_Bouge de là," _Thea commanded. She turned to the officers and ordered_, "Officiers, restent en place. _Girls_, _don't go anywhere. Stay right where you are."

We jogged to the scene, pistols pointed down. As we passed the models, the pull was getting stronger, until we went by Julie's models. It all happened in a split second, and I just turned my head slightly at the right moment to see who it was unnoticeably.

We went about five doors down the hallway from Charlene Evans' models. The suite we were looking for was given away when there was shouting from a man, and the whimpering plea of a woman. We stacked up on either side of the doors; I covered Thea on the right while the other teen agents were on the left. Thea told me in the count of one, I had to unlock the electronic swipe door lock remotely using the microchip. I nodded an 'okay', then she counted down with her fingers. I sent signals from my chip to the lock, instantly a click was heard and the little LED on it turned from red to green. And so Thea initiated the breach and kicked the door open.

"_Interpol!_" Thea announced. She pointed her gun at a guy holding the half of a broken champagne bottle by the neck, wielding it as a weapon and it looked like he wanted to stab the woman. She was on the ground; scared, crying. "_Lâchez votre arme et obtenir sur vos genoux avec les mains sur la tête, lentement._"

The man let his weapon down gently on the floor and got to his knees with his hands behind his head, slowly. Thea kept aiming as she walked up to him, then stowed away her pistol in order to get the handcuffs on her waist hidden under her jacket and slapped them on the wrist of the man.

"Thea, situation under control?" Geronimo asked.

"Yeah, just some abusive husband, not that big of a deal," Thea replied.

"G, I know who our traitor is. Search the belongings of Claudia Dubois, I'll be right there," I said.

While the cops took over our ordeal, we went into the suite where Geronimo was in. Just in time, he was about to open up her carry on and inspect what was inside. "Hey, I saved this for you," he said, crouching down. "I think you should open it."

He gave me a pair of latex gloves and I immediately put them on. I gripped on the zipper, unzipping along the curved sides of the luggage. I flipped open the lid, uncovering the items it had inside.

At the center of it all, apart from her clothes, was the item that was the key piece of evidence. A red wig.

All of us muted in shock, trading each other looks. "A short-haired wig," I pointed out, holding it up with one hand. "Exactly the same as Roux's hair."

"She was right in front of our eyes, and we suspected nothing," Benjamin stated.

Geronimo's iPhone rang to a text message. He brought it out to read it after unlocking the screen, and we were in for another big surprise. "It's the French inspector, André Gaston."

"What did he say?" Thea wondered.

"I asked him to get Gustav to describe once again the woman he dealer with and had it sketched out by an artist. He sent me a photo of the result." He showed us the sketch. The face looked precisely like Claudia's, just with the short hair slapped on her head.

Then I noticed something distinct that stood out from the rest of the sketch. "Roux doesn't have cheekbones," I said, pointing it out. "Dubois does."

"Crew, abort the search," he ordered everyone. "We have our mole. Claudia Dubois, we found a red wig in her luggage."

The Crew walked slowly out of the suites, and focused their vision on the blonde ponytailed traitor. We surrounded her, and her fellow models back away. "Claudia Dubois," Geronimo began. "You are under arrest."

She responded by looking shocked at first. "What? I do not understand, what is going on?" She spoke with her French accent.

"You were the traitor we've been looking for in the first place," I said. "You were the one working as a double agent for The Technologists."

Like any other scum like her, she played dumb. "Traitor? What are you talking about?"

"You are the reason those designers were abducted." I began piecing together the clues we found about her. "Days before the fashion week, you started gathering information. Of course, you knew Julie long enough, until she could trust you like she trusts Colette, and you knew that you were she was friends with the organizer, so you got the intel from her and you were lucky enough she knew everything, to the finest detail. Then you began planning for the first abduction. You surfed the deep web, found a drug to knock out your victims fast enough, and ran a deal posing as the organizer so that she'd take the heat if the dealer ever got caught and spilt the beans."

"Wha- posing? How could I disguise myself as Roux? I look nothing like her!"

Geronimo stepped forward. "Which was why you bought a wig similar to Roux's hairstyle and color."

"What wig? I do not have a wig!"

"Then how can you explain this?" The orange-furred mouse pulled out the wig from his back. "We found it in your luggage."

"Zat is not mine!" she snapped. "Someone must've planted it there!"

"We can scan it for prints or possible DNA, and I bet that it'll turn up a positive match with yours." He peeked under it for a second and said, "Oh look... A strand of blonde hair. I wonder who this belonged to?"

She stammered, and became silent.

"And after the night of the first abduction, we found a drug stained on the pillow of Charlene Evans' suite," Pandora added, being the one with forensic smarts. "Yeah, you thought Technologists minions were so professional... But guess what? Charlene put up a fight. She struggled, made the guy with the syringe accidentally push the plunger and got the drug on the pillow. So we traced the drug back to its dealer, interrogated him, and with his help, we traced it indirectly back to you."

"And at the second abduction," I took over, "you used Julie again and asked her if the route had changed for their transport to the Eiffel Tower for Night Four last night. But Roux never actually knew, so Julie didn't know as well. Only WE knew. So she told you she'd stick to the usual route. So you only got two more kidnapped at that night; by ambushing the convoy."

Colette pieced the final point on her own. "And when Julie was taken back to ze hotel with Hart, she could not sleep through ze night thinking about her fellow competitors because she stayed up with me until three in ze morning, chatting on Facebook. I told her zat we might transport you to somewhere else safe, and she must've told you about what I told her."

"Which she did," Benjamin chimed in. "I just tapped into your Facebook account, Dubois. You've been talking to Julie for half an hour since three o'clock."

"You wanted to finish the job, so you told Ze Technologist to send some replacement drivers for zis morning's convoy and had them to swap ze existing ones."

"We've gotcha now, Dubois," Hussein clarified. "And there's no escape from it."

Then a beep came from Benjamin's pants pocket, his Ben Pad alerted him of a notification. He to it out an checked what it was. "Uh, guys? The blonde hair sample we found inside the stolen Renault came back early. It matched to Claudia Dubois."

She was speechless. At the same time, I widened by eyes. "So you were the masked woman who planted the disappearing device on the Eiffel Tower, driver of the stolen car, the one who egoistically challenged us at the ditch scene of the said car, and the one we chased on the rooftops!"

"What do you have to say for yourself, Dubois?" Geronimo said.

She strangely changed her accent to British; "One thing: LONG. LIVE. THE TECHNOLIGISTS."

Before we knew it, Geronimo was knocked back in the snout with a spinning backfist, making him tumble against Russell and Hussein, and in the momentum of the spin, she combo'd it with a spinning thrust kick to me, delivering it to the middle of my abdomen in close range. It was so strong, it knocked me down hard on the carpeted floor a few feet away, next to Thea's paws. Gladly no one was behind me, and the girls kept their professionalism and didn't shriek. It was so quick, nobody was able to react fast enough as Dubois darted off into the hallway.

"GET HER!" Hussein said, after helping Geronimo up.

The Crew went after her, with Geronimo in last because of recovery from being dazed. The juniors agents insisted that they stayed to make sure I was fine. "Argh, I haven't felt this much pain ever since I fought Williams in hand to hand combat the last time we met..." I groaned. "And this came from a woman... C'mon let's get her." I managed to stand on my feet with the help of my friends and chased after all of them.

Meanwhile, Dubois was nearly reaching the end of the hallway. There was a window, leading to the same fire escape outside we took from a floor down just then and another hallway to the right. Hussein and Russell were hot on her tail by ten paces, which gave her time to slide open the window and squeeze through like Thea did.

"Suspect took the fire escape, I need Thea Sisters to intercept," Hussein requested.

"Roger that," Pamela answered. She took the right, with her friends and teacher following her close behind.

Geronimo, Russell, and Hussein arrived at the small window. "Are you out of your mind? The two of us are over six feet tall! We're never gonna fit through!" said Russell.

"You're right, the window's too short," Hussein replied. He solved that problem by punching the glass and frame barehanded, until there was just the sill left.

The other two stood by and stared in awkwardness.

"C'mon," Hussein said.

They climbed out the window taking turns, crackling heard stepping on broken glass on the fire escape. (Geronimo had to avoid it, he was bare-pawed.) They saw Dubois one floor ahead in between the gaps of the platform, so they quickly resumed their foot pursuit.

Dubois ran out of stairs, so she skipped pulling down the ladder and forced herself to jump off while there was still one floor left, and landed with a roll. The two men and mouse mirrored what she pulled off, with Geronimo whimpering at the dismount. Dubois still managed to run away from them by ten paces ahead, shockingly even in high heals.

Then the Thea Sisters and their teacher appeared from the corner opposite of Dubois right on time to intercept her. She braked hard as if those thin heels wouldn't break, and turned around facing the other way. But she failed to realize that Geronimo and his backup were right behind her, so she had no escape option.

She was cornered. Surrounded. Trapped. The Crew stopped also to confront her instead of lunging in and taking her down. Dubois knew she had no where to go, so she had to do the only thing she knew what to do in dire situations like this: fighting her way out.

She readied herself in a fighting stance, spreading her legs apart and bending her knees, while holding out her fists in a position. The Crew accepted her challenge and got into their stances.

Russell was the first one to take her on first. He bellowed before he took his first swing which was easily dodged, then a left jab that got blocked, and a fist intended to her nose that she caught. She fought back by striking him twice in the face before she uppercut his gut, then gave him a good thrust kick away to send him tumbling on the road.

Just as she was done with Russell, Hussein took a shot by trying to land a one-two and a side uppercut, but both were parried by her forearms and quickly got grasped on as Dubois struck her knee on Hussein's forehead as she pulled his arms down and bringing her leg up. She finished him off by taking his one arm, twisting it until she was airborne and spinning, and he thudded on the ground with a pain groan.

Geronimo instantly replaced Hussein, but he didn't last that long because when he launched his attack, Dubois took hold of his wrist and used his momentum to flip him using aikido, and he went down before he even began.

When she was still busy, Thea took the chance ran straight for Dubois and jumped with a spin, and when she got close enough, she sprung out a hind paw and it directly hit above Dubois' chest, sending her rolling backwards. Thea landed on her paws as Dubois took the advantage of the roll and recovered herself to a crouching position with her left leg extended backwards. Thea waited for her to strike back, then Dubois lunges into Thea with a fist, only to be blocked by her arms held up in front of her snout. Once her feet were back on the ground, she continued to strike Thea with jabs and elbows which either got parried, dodged or pushed away, and she finally got her when Thea was caught off guard and hit her with a spinning roundhouse kick to the snout. She fell, unable to get up.

Meanwhile, Colette and Violet teamed up. Just before Thea fell, they ran from a distance and gained speed, then Paulina formed a foothold with her paws as Colette jumped on it, and Violet pulled her arms up thus giving Colette a boosted jump; higher than a person's height. She dived down paws first, hoping to get a hit on Dubois' face. But Dubois saw it coming, so she ducked down and missed the kick as Colette's paws grazed on her ponytail. While she touched down behind her, Violet charged and bunny hopped, trying to punch her while airborne. Yet again she caught it with another one on her right. Behind her, Colette recovered and tried to grab her, but Dubois kicked backwards into her stomach, and made her recoil. Struggling, Violet wanted to overpower her by wrestling her down, but Dubois used the strength from her opponent and rolled down backwards with her legs folded, placed her feet on Violet's stomach, then sprung them out and launched her into the air.

Just when Colette shook the pain off, she watched in horror as her friend flew and fell right towards her.

"Oh _merde_..." she muttered. And then she got slammed down with a grunt.

Pamela, Nicky, and Paulina attacked together. They threw in a series of punches, kicks and combined martial arts moves that some managed to hit Dubois in certain places, but didn't cripple her. Each time they hit, they'd get hit back. Eventually, Paulina got donkey kicked in the chin, Pamela got smacked in the cheek, and Nicky got headbutt.

Nobody was left standing but Dubois.

She looked around, overlooking the whole of The Crew lying on the ground, groaning and moaning in pain. "Huh... That was much easier than I expected..." Dubois said to herself.

Surprisingly, a weak voice (or rather squeak) came from behind her as she began to walk away. "Not as easy as you thought," said the squeak.

Dubois turned around to see that Colette had risen up, standing tall and strong in her fighting stance.

Dubois chuckled maniacally. "Haven't had enough, Frenchy?" she mocked.

Colette twisted her head left and right, making the joints in her spine crack. "I am just getting started."

With a devilish smile, Dubois threw in a one-two jab and a cross uppercut, and Colette dodged and blocked them, and while both her paws were occupied, Dubois' left fist managed to land on Colette's cheek, but she countered by using the motion she received to jump, spin, and deliver a triple-spin roundhouse kick to Dubois. The hard hit made Dubois recoil, dazed and confused. She shook it off and continued; she tried a sweep kick to bring Colette down, but she backflipped away to avoid it. Then she leaped forward, spinning, then thrusted her right leg and drove her hind paw in for Dubois, but she parried it with her arms crossing in front of her face. Dubois kicked Colette's side and snout with the same foot, and that ticked her off. She buried a 4-combo punch into Dubois midsection, nose, and forehead, then spun and another strong punch into her cheekbone.

Dubois stepped back in retreat, rubbing the spot that conflicted the recent damage. "I just got slammed by my friend who you threw in the air, and you worry about your delicate cheekbone?" Colette taunted.

Dubois snarled. She came back for another attack; a double airborne kick. But Colette was quick enough to avoid it with a backflip, and in the process, did a bicycle kick as her hind paws rise up an hit Dubois in the chin. When she was back on the ground, she took advantage of Dubois being disoriented. So she got some distance, started to run, jump, and caught Dubois' head in between her legs. Colette slammed on her back, and with Dubois facing the ground. Colette held her feet against Dubois back so she couldn't get up.

"AND STAY DOWN!" Colette yelled. Dubois struggled, but she was no match for Colette's strong grip as she was caught in between her thighs.

After that, we junior agents showed up from the corner the Thea Sisters came from with our guns raised and pointed. Yes, I know, our timing was really bad.

"Whoa... what happened here?" Benjamin said. We saw our fallen teammates still recovering from their injuries.

"I think we came a bit too late," I stated.

"Danny, where were you?" Thea asked, rubbing her head to ease the pain.

"We got a little lost, and Pinky wouldn't jump unless I pulled the escape ladder," I answered. Pinky blushed in embarrassment. I took out a pair of handcuffs from a pouch strapped to my belt, and threw them to Benjamin. "Cuff her, Benjamin."

The mouselet jogged to Colette as he holstered his weapon and got on top of Dubois' back, kneeling on it, the brought her hands together and slapped on the handcuffs. We stored our guns away, and Colette loosened her leg grip and stood up. She wiped her hands together then made crossed her arms, staring down on Dubois.

Geronimo was seen sitting up near Russell and Hussein, whom Pamela came to his aid. "Ugh... My back," the orange mouse uttered. "Ah, I see that you've apprehended her. Colette, did you take her down on your own?"

"I could not say on my own, but... _oui,_" she said with a proud smirk.

"Well, I never knew you had it in you..." He closed his eyes tight and shook his head to clear a headache. He spoke into his earpiece, "Agent DuMans, this is Agent Geronimo Stilton. I need backup and a truck at the back of the hotel to transport a prisoner to the National Central Base."

"Roger zat. ETA, sixty seconds," replied the GIGN agent.

He immediately took out his phone and got Kobel on speed dial, smiling in excitement. "Mr Kobel, it's me. You won't believe what great news I am about to bring you..."

After Colette saw her friends awake and well, she looks down again upon Dubois in disgust as the wails of sirens and stomps from combat boots approach and echoed off in the corner.


	15. Chapter 15-The Return Of An Old Enemy

**A/N: Yo! Malaysianpro back with another chapter! No release notes for this time (to lazy to think) so, let's just get to the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters and or stories will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**The Return Of An Old Enemy**

**Interpol National Central Bureau - Paris**

**0827 hour**

We took Dubois and ourselves to the NCB in Paris. Took us long enough because of typical Paris traffic, and a road rage near the Arc de Triomphe left us stranded in traffic for ten minutes. When we got there, WE had to stop and break it up.

At the NCB, they took Dubois to the interrogation room in the underground levels, while we were on the third floor, the squad room, setting up shop in one of the guest bullpens available. It was mildly busy with people going here and there, and it was surprisingly quiet but with a few office sounds like ringing phones. It was bright inside because of the tinted skylight, and I agreed to the initiative they did to conserve energy.

"We know what to extract her of, and we're going to get it by any means necessary because we know that she wouldn't talk," Geronimo stated during pre-interrogation.

"ANY means necessary?" Colette said mischievously, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Based on her accent, I can tell that she's a type of Technologist operative who seems to care about their so called 'cause', in other words, an extremist. And although she is actually paid, she takes it as a bonus. Therefore it should be tough for her to crack open. But I intend to get those designers back safe and sound. Including Julie, Colette."

"First, we need to know who she really is," Thea stepped up. "We all heard, she changed from a French accent to British. So it's obvious she's not who we think she is."

"Agreed. Thea, Danny, Hussein, and Russell, you're coming with me to observe. The rest stay here and observe from the wall-mounted flatscreen."

Just as we were about to move, Colette reached out her arm and grabbed Geronimo by the shoulder. "Hold on..."

"What's the matter, Colette?" Geronimo asked.

"I think... I should interrogate her."

"You? Are you sure?"

She crossed her arms. "You sound doubtful of me, Geronimo. Have you forgotten zat I was trained by your sister?"

Geronimo looked at her as he thought about it. He was thinking that if she was mentally stable enough to control her emotions during the interrogation, especially after the abduction of her dear friend. Thea bumped him in the side. "C'mon, G! Give her a chance!"

He continued to stare at Colette, and Colette traded her darling puppy eyes with him. "_S'il vous plaît?" she pleaded. _

"Is your mental state stable? Because I don't want you to get all personal with the suspect."

"Trust me, we'll have all we need to know and you won't regret this."

He paused again. "I trust you. We need what's her actual identity, what their plan is, and where are the women. Got that?"

"_Oui, Capitaine," _she complied in French_. _

"C'mon. We've got six women to save."

We began to move, and the Thea Sisters wished their friend good luck in her first interrogation.

* * *

**Interrogation Room/Observation Room**

Colette entered the interrogation room right away as soon as we arrived. "I don't about this, Stilton. By the looks of her face, she looks enraged," Russell analyzed, spotting through the one-way glass

"Don't worry, she's got it all under control," Thea assured.

Colette shut the grey door behind her, glaring at Dubois longly and with a hint of silent fury as she made her way to the chair opposite of her and the wall. She pulled her metal chair and sat down, with her arms crossed and legs crossed, one on top of the other. The dull beige room was dimly lit by an unchanged fluorescent light, and we definitely felt the tension in the air building up as Colette's scowl got tighter. They both gave each other their looks as we kept our attention locked on them, and it went on for sixty seconds. Nothing but silence, breathing, and the staring.

Dubois then finally opened her mouth. "Look, we've been doing this for a while, so what do you want from me?"

Colette breathed in deeply. "Who are you? What is your name?"

"Dubois. Claudia Dubois."

"Impossible, you are British."

"I descended from a French family."

"Impossible. I know your physical traits are no less different than we French, but I've been observing your behavior. You do not posses ze behavioral traits of a French person or descendant. I have seen you respond to questions, but when you fail to answer, you simply shrug."

"Don't all people do that?"

"Not exactly. We French have a specific gesture for zat, it is called ze French Gallic Shrug. You don't lift your eyebrows, you don't twist your hand with ze palm exposed facing to ze front, and you don't blow a raspberry. You just shrug. And we French don't usually show our wealth, we hide it as much as we can."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"On ze afternoon before Night Two, Julie reported zat you went shopping with your fellow models, splashing cash in front of everyone. And we French stop any activities going on at zat time and go for lunch and we don't return as late as two o'clock."

With that answer, Dubois panicked and kept her mouth shut.

"Since you won't tell me, I'll skip to ze next question. Where is ze device you planted on ze Eiffel Tower?"

"The boy saw me plant it, ask him."

"It disappeared when we went to look for it. Where. Is. Ze device?"

"My task was just to plant them there and get out. No questions asked."

"Them?"

"There were more than one."

"What were they?"

"Like I said. No. Questions. Asked."

"What are your plans zis time? Who is ze new leader of Ze Technologists?"

"I'm a low-level field spy, I have no information on that. And you'll find out soon enough who he is."

Colette was starting to get annoyed. "Where are ze designers?"

"I don't know..." She then swifts her eyes to the left. A sign of someone telling a tall tale.

Colette was sharp and observed her body language. "You are lying."

Dubois smirked. "How can you tell?"

She uncrossed her legs and stood up. "Ze right half of ze brain is where ze center of creativity is, and it controls ze left half of your body. When you tell a lie, you tend to look to ze left."

Immediately Dubois' smile faded.

"They will come back for me," Dubois said, referring to her organization. "I know they will."

Colette chucked, beginning to stroll around. "You really ARE new to ze organization, are you not? Ze did not tell you?"

Dubois furrowed her eyebrows. "Tell me what?"

"Ah, so they have not," she said. "One of our agents was an ex-Technologist spy. When we caught him, they never came back for him."

"What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is zat once you get caught, you are on your own. We've dealt with them before and we know zat they are strong in numbers, including their spies. We know zat there are many like you, and they can take your place whenever your cover was jeopardized." Colette leaned near her and said into her ear, "Your organization only takes your loss as collateral."

She began to panic even more. "No... LIES!" Dubois denied.

"I can assure you zat zis is all true. Do you know how betrayed I felt when you betrayed my friend? Julie would feel ze same. Now how do YOU like feeling betrayed by your own organization?!"

Dubois was again, unresponsive. She looked uneasy.

"So I ask you again," Colette said, as she circled back to her chair and leaning above the table with her arms propping her up, "WHO. ARE YOU?"

"I... I'm Mia Thompson... A former MI6 operative that went rouge..." She trembled.

"What did you plant on at ze Eiffel Tower?"

"I said I didn't know. My orders were to get in, plant the devices, and get out. That's all I did. No questions asked."

"What are they planning to do zis time?"

"I was just a spy! I never snooped around, and they never told me their real plan. I was given orders, I executed them, and never asked questions."

"Where did they take ze designers?"

"I don't know about that! I swear!" Colette was aware that she glanced to the left again.

"Betrayed by your own people, and STILL YOU WANT TO PROTECT THEM!" Colette snapped. "WHERE ARE THEY?"

Thompson started to fear her fury. "Okay, okay, I eavesdropped on two of the drivers. I heard they mentioned that they took Lemkova and MacArthur, but I can't remember where they said they took them..."

It sounded truthful, but Colette wanted to make her remember the hard way. She unexpectedly raged and grabbed hold of the table from the underside, flipped it to the side (which made Thompson shriek), went to Thompson and lifted her up by the collar of her jacket. Then she pushed her, slamming her to the glass and making it crack. We repelled a bit in the observation room, and made us take a step backwards when she unholstered her Five-seveN pistol and pointed it at Thompson's forehead in point blank.

"HOLY SHITE!" Russell exclaimed.

"You have until three to tell me before I turn your brain into a fondue," Colette threatened.

"WHAT THE HELL? ARE YOU MAD?" Thompson panicked.

"Uh, Thea?" Hussein called.

"Wait for it..." she replied.

"_Un..._" Colette counted.

"Uhm..." Thompson uttered, trying to recall in such a hurry.

"Stilton, you gotta stop yer student!" Russell ordered.

"Wait for it..." Thea said.

"_Deux..._" Colette continued, pulling the slid of her gun since it was hammerless.

"Oh God, PLEASE HELP ME!" Thompson trembled.

"Thea?!" Hussein toned his voice up an octave.

"Wait for it..." she said again.

"_TROIS!_" Colette shouted.

"THEY ARE IN RENNES!"

She pulled the trigger which made the gun click. Thompson shrieked and was already crying. To others expectations, they'd think that she'd be dead already. To us that already knew the drill, she was still alive because the gun was empty. Unloaded. She never stocked up any ammo after the shootout that happened outside the hotel.

"That's my girl..." Thea said in pride.

Thompson slid down against the wall and sat on the ground in fear. Colette looked upon her and pointed her gun away. "Both are in Rennes?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yes... but they're in separate places..." Thompson informed, still shaken.

"Anywhere specific?"

"MacArthur is in an unfinished apartment near the universities... Lemkova is in a farm in La Lande Ragot..."

Colette lifted her head up and holstered her pistol. "Thank you for your cooperation."

Colette stepped away, and left Thompson on the floor as she stepped out of the interrogation room.

"What I tell ya?" Thea boasted to the others.

"She scared the living crap out of me..." Russell stated.

"Remind me not to EVER... mess with Colette," Hussein requested.

* * *

Back at the bullpen, Geronimo began planing our next move. "Benjamin, search for any unfinished apartments around any universities around Rennes," he ordered as we approached the bullpen. "And look for how many farms are there in La Lande Ragot. The lesser there are, the easier the search."

Benjamin was standing in the huddle of The Crew in front of the flatscreen. "On it, Uncle G," he said. Pandora followed him to lend him a helping paw.

"The rest of us, we figure out what The Technologists are doing this time," Geronimo proposed.

"Let's start with why did they take the designers?" I suggested.

"I could think of some reasons, but it might not be relevant," Trap said, backing out.

"Maybe they want to extract information out of them; find out what are their countries weaknesses so they can launch an attack on them," Nicky squeaked.

"If that's the case, what do they all have in common?" Russell said.

"All of them is either working or had worked with their country's army or law enforcement agency," Violet pointed out.

"But not Julie!" Colette cut off, brining out a contradiction. "She has not worked for any French LEAs nor has been helping them with anything. Why should she be captured if she does not know anything?"

"Okay... Let's talk about what their cause is," Thea spoke up. "What are they fighting for?"

"If they were carrying the same cause as last time, why aren't they in America and instead here in France?" Paulina questioned.

"Same goes to the statement before," Pamela added, "why abduct worldwide LEOs (law enforcement officers) with Julie for exception, for info extraction when they're here in France? If they want to attack they're countries, why take over areas of France let alone that Julie doesn't even know her own countries military strengths?"

"Then it must be vengeance," Hussein brought up. "We've taken them down before, so maybe they've got a grudge on us, France, or Interpol."

"It has be towards Interpol," I said. "Why take vengeance on us when the agency itself ordered for their organization to be terminated?"

"So why France? Why not just blow the headquarters into pieces?" Trap asked.

"They're taking vengeance on the agency, but France will be the victim because Interpol is based here," Geronimo pieced it up. "They have a new objective. Bring Interpol down so international law can't be enforced, thus bringing their future plans to a green light."

"With Williams gone, who's their new leader?" Pinky wondered.

Then the screens in the bullpen blacked out and/or had static interference. The flatscreen, computers, monitors, phones... Anything that was connected to the internet or a satellite. Everyone had no idea what was happening, weirded out and confused. We looked around, catching glimpses of every one of the bullpen floor's screens blacking out as well. Murmurs arose as the LEOs in the NCB tried to figure out what was going on.

"Benjamin, what's happening?" Geronimo asked.

"I bypassed the program that made the devices black out," he reported. "A Trojan horse infiltrated the NCBs network servers and into all the devices."

"It got into my microchip too," I said, closing my eyes tight. "The thing messed up the HUD in my vision."

"How much damage is the Trojan horse doing?"

"That's the weird thing; it's not damaging anything at all," Benjamin said. "All my files are intact, the network is still running... All that's attached to it is a link. This isn't a cyber attack."

"A link to what?"

Benjamin hovered his cursor and copied the link, then opened a web browser and pasted it into a the search field. He pressed enter, and it loaded up a page with a media player on top of a black background. "A video?" Pandora uttered.

"This isn't a video," Benjamin corrected, clicking on the play button with nothing happening. "This is a live stream."

"Looks like someone's sending us a message," I said.

"I think so," said Benjamin.

"Can you track down the source?" Geronimo asked.

"We can't," Pandora replied. "They used a VPN to setup this live stream, so we can't triangulate the IP address's exact location."

Then the live stream started to play on all the screens. It began with a second of static interference graphics, and showed The Technologists's flag accompanied by more intentional static for a split second until it blacked out. Then it showed a glimpse of a Technologist militant watching over the surroundings of a forest, and a voice spoke up when it blacked out again. "_Waiting..._" The British voice said. It was so familiar. The voice of someone I could never forget.

Then visuals of marching Technologist militants displayed on the screens for one whole second, and the voice was heard again when the stream went to black. "_Hiding..._" it said. Then a shot of another Technologist soldier shooting an L86A2 rifle at God knows what for a second when it cut to black again, with the voice saying, "_Lurking in the shadows..."_

It continued to display black with the voice talking. "_What other organizations can do in years, we do in a matter of months..._"

Then a recognizable face appeared fading on the screens. He was white, had a wide forehead, and his eye wasn't blue. It was sulphuric yellow with bloodshot areas around the iris. He had blond, short hair, half his face was not shown, and I feared his return the most.

It was our old and thought-to-be-dead enemy.

Brazier Williams.

"_I have returned._"

"It's Williams..." Thea trembled.

"How the cheese did he survive the Force Maelstrom?" Pamela said.

"_This message goes out to the people of Interpol, and especially to General Secretariat Roland Kobel,_" Williams started. "_I am Brazier Williams, the leader of The Technologists. I am announcing our resurrection, as well as to claim responsibility of the takeovers of ten French cities. Yes, I survived the explosion occurred at McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas, and after the termination of my organization, I managed to recruit people who still supported my ideology and rebuilt this organization from scratch._

_"I have commanded the attacks on the cities and have taken them and a few people hostage, so if you want them safe, it's better of you to listen carefully to my demands._" His face moved aside, and the logo of Interpol flashed beside. "_Interpol has interfered with our agendas for far too long. Every operation we had planned had been intercepted, halted, and postponed. Therefore, I demand the General Secretariat to disband Interpol."_

We frowned at his words in disdain. "_If you comply, I will release the cities and spare the lives of the surviving citizens and free them. If you refuse, I will decimate these cities altogether by commanding a bomber to drop bombs and level everything to the ground, including the citizens and begin executing these six hostages._"

We were horrified by images of the six designers shown on the screen one by one, kept in different places. Their hands were bound, feet tied, and mouths gagged with scarfs. There were some of them were bleeding on the corner of their foreheads, Evans' plug-and-play cybernetic legs were missing, and some were bruised on their faces after getting hit for fighting back. Their eyes were closed, and they looked hopeless. Terrified. Just waiting for anyone to save them.

"_These are the designers of the Interpol Women's Tactical Fashion Week,_" Williams continued. "_If you want them back nearly unscathed, obey my demands. I will give you a period of forty-eight hours to decide. A second after that, I will command the bombs to drop and the hostages shot as well as France's landmarks demolished. _

"_I have given you a choice, General Secretariat. Choose WISELY and DON'T keep me waiting."_

The video terminated, and all the screens switched to their normal displays. "The broadcast went national," Pinky stated, checking her phone. "Police reports are storming in the emergency lines."

"Expect the phones here to be ringing any second..." Trap predicted.

"It's gonna be all over the news tonight," Benjamin said.

"Wanna get this scoop back to the Gazette, boss?" Pinky asked.

"Absolutely..."

Meanwhile, I was petrified as hell. I shifted my eyes around on the flatscreen, trying to figure out if what I saw was real. Thea was the first to detect my strange behavior. "Danny?" Thea called. She snapped her fingers to get me out of the trans. "Danny, are you alright?"

"His eye... Did you see... his eye?" I asked in fear.

"I didn't notice, no. Why?" she said.

Everyone gathered around and payed attention. "His iris was sulphuric yellow! And it had bloodshot areas around it! Don't y'all know what this means? Those are Sith eyes!"

"Reality check, you and Professor Philips are the only ones who know how to channel the Force. Right?" said Pamela with doubts.

"Not really," I denied her statement. "One can be self-taught of the ways of the Sith. Through hatred, anger, and passion. That's how a Sith possesses its power." I shut myself up so I could swallow. "Geronimo, remember when I fainted in your office after sensing a major disturbance in the Force?"

"Yes, I had to send you to the hospital for that," he recalled.

"I think he might be the cause of it."

"If that _was _the cause, we need Professor Philips here in France," Benjamin suggested.

"I have his number, I can make a call," Thea said, holding her phone.

"Do it," Geronimo urged. As she went to her desk, Geronimo had more orders to give. "Mouslets, I need you to study that ransom video and try to find anything that could lead us to the designers."

"Gotcha covered, G," I obeyed.

"I'll contact the General Secretariat to get some military support of we're going to rescue the designers and get those cities back."

"Military support? I'm gonna go make some calls," Hussein said.

"We're going to need whatever help we can get, Crew. Contact anyone you know that can," Geronimo stated.

"Yes sir!" The Thea Sisters saluted.

"I know a person in the Irish Army. Maybe I can get a squadron or two," Russell offered.

"Good. This is our last chance of redemption, so we better make it count. WHO ARE WE?" Geronimo shouted.

"THE CREW!" We shouted back.

"Let's show them what we've got!"


	16. Chapter 16-Operation Nightstrike

**A/N: Malaysianpro in the house! Welcome back guys to another chapter of Trouble In France. I give you all an extra long chapter for this time to compensate my lateness. Speaking of late, I've started writing this since March 2015 and planned to get it done by summer, and 9 months later, it's still unfinished and it's already 2016. Damn it. **

**Oh well, let's just get with the chapter. And happy 2016! Malaysianpro out!**

**Disclaimers from past chapters and or stories will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Operation Nightstrike**

**0920 hours**

We've made a lot of progress in the past hour. Geronimo had the mouselets and I to multitask: Pandora and Benjamin were busy locating for the apartment and the farm where Lemkova and MacArthur are kept via an imaging satellite, while I tried to increase resolution of the video to find where the remaining four designer were, and Pinky helped me spot any details. Meanwhile, Geronimo told Kobel that Thompson revealed two locations of the designers and planned for a rescue operation. They talked about getting help, so they made a deal with GIGN for them to let us borrow their most elite task forces consisting of ten agents each, and Kobel told that we'll get help from three of Interpol's elite tactical teams with five agents in each team to join us in our rescue and takeover operations.

"The GIGN agents will be transported to here to be geared up and briefed about the operation," Geronimo explained. "Meanwhile, while they're on their way, we need to start planning for Operation Nightstrike."

"Nightstrike? I like that name," Thea commented.

"Thank you, Thea. I thought of it myself."

"Does it mean anything?"

"Yes, unfortunately. The 'night' in the name means we have to run this operation in the night..."

"Taking advantage of the dark, I see..."

Trap came back from calling some of our friends back in New Mouse City, overhearing the conversation and saw Geronimo's worried face expression. "What's the matter, G? Afraid of the dark?"

"What do _you_ think? Yes!"

"Don't worry too much, Geronimo," Thea motivated. "I know your brave side will shine through."

Then Russell walked up from behind Geronimo. "Hey," he greeted.

"Russell, what progress have you made with the Irish Army?" Geronimo asked.

"I have good news. The army lent us two of their best infantry squadron, consisting of ten men each," he said.

"That's great news!" I said, appearing behind Thea with Pinky.

"They've taken off as soon as I requested for them. They'll land at Lyon in a C-130 at one in the afternoon."

"Speaking of progress, what about you, Danny?" Geronimo wondered.

"We did see something in Melanie and Julie's frame, but we couldn't make out what even with resolution enhancement. We'll try again," I reported.

"You did your best, both of you. But we have to put that aside first because we need to strategize for the rescue op."

"So soon?" Pinky squeaked.

"Yes. Because we're going to run the operation _tonight._"

"Tonight? Well, expect help to of arrive in three o'clock," Hussein cut in from behind me. "I called in the rest of the Specters. We plan for the mission first, then we'll explain it to them how to get the job done."

"Speaking of planning, Benjamin?" I called, looking at him by the desk beside us.

"We've found their locations, but the farms in La Lande Ragot, Liffré? We have about five farms as possible locations," he said as he stared at the map on his computer.

"Right, what about the apartment?" Geronimo asked.

"It's unfinished; due to be completed in November next year. Like what Thompson said, near the universities."

"Okay..." He turned to the Thea Sisters grouping up at a desk. "Girls? Got anything?"

"I have engaged conversation with a high-ranking officer in ze French Army," Colette informed. "They have lent us a twenty-man infantry unit."

"And I've managed to get us a four-man sniper unit, a five-man support team, and an elite infantry unit from the Australian Army," said Nicky. "The others don't have any contacts with military personnel."

"In that case, let's huddle up everyone," Geronimo requested. Everyone came close to the flatscreen. "We'll start with MacArthur. Benjamin, bring up the apartment on the screen."

"I had enough time to study the floor plans and construct a 3D model of the apartment, so..." He tapped a few lines of commands into a prompt and the model appeared on the screen.

"This is much more convenient! Thank you, Benjamin!" Geronimo praised.

"So who's getting deployed to the apartment?" I said.

"We will," Geronimo squeaked up. "The Rodent's Gazette crew and the Thea Sisters. We'll get some of our support teams to join us. Meanwhile, the Specters will be deployed with the other remaining teams.

We all studied the map carefully as Benjamin set the model to rotate around. It was eight stories tall excluding the roof and including the ground floor, and had a roundabout at the courtyard in the middle. "Tell me, Geronimo, are we gonna just rescue MacArthur or do we need this place back?"

"We need that apartment back as well," Geronimo stated. "France's population is growing and people need homes."

"So we need to draw these people out..." Pinky stared longly into the screen, constructing a foolproof plan for us and imagining it taking place, calculating every possibilities for mission failure. "How much confirmed help are we getting in this short notice?"

"Two Irish ten-man squads, two ten-man GIGN task forces, and two Interpol tactical teams," Russell listed.

"Hmm... Well split the military support in half; four units deployed with The Crew, and four units with the Specters. Alright, here's how it's going down. You storm the place."

"Storm? Go in the front, all guns blazing?" Trap said, unsure of her insane idea.

"I'm not done. The four support units will storm the front gates at the south and draw attention from Technologist forces as they take out most of them including their backup," she said as Benjamin focused the model at the front entrance. "Meanwhile, the TRG crew and the Thea Sisters will have to deal with less troops as you guys will sweep the building for MacArthur inside from top to bottom."

"Well, now we know the support units' point of insertion," Thea said. "What about us? You said 'from top to bottom'."

"From the roof."

"And just how are we supposed to get to the roof from the ground?" Geronimo questioned.

"That's the twist. You guys aren't going to be deployed from the ground. You're going skydiving."

"SKYDIVING?" Geronimo snapped in surprise.

"That's right. You and your support will be flown to your drop zone in C-130s and skydive to your point of insertion. They'll land on the street near the gates, while you land on the roof and make your way down while battling The Technologists and in the same time, find MacArthur."

"And our extraction point?" I said.

"There are gates in the north. You will be extracted there with no problem because your backup will be keeping them occupied. Five vans will be dropped along with you and land at the street at both gates."

"Sounds pretty straightforward, I like it," Benjamin stated.

"That's just the basics. I'll cover everything detailed during the briefing," said the genius female mouselet. "Now the first division of the op is done, time to plan for the farm. TRG crew and Thea Sisters, you may resume whatever you guys were doing. Hussein, listen come closer. Benjamin, the satellite image of La Lande Ragot, please."

The TRG crew and the Thea sisters dismissed themselves and scattered around in our bullpen. After filling Pinky's request and brought up the satellite image of the road, Pandora alerts Benjamin that she would be going to the bathroom, which gave me an opportunity to talk about the talent show.

Once she was out of sight and hearing range, I took her chair and sat beside Benjamin, and Thea walked up to the front desk. "So, what's gonna happen to the practice sessions?" she asked.

"We'll have to cancel them," Benjamin said heavy-heartedly after a sigh. "We did what we could. All we can do is hope for the best for us on stage."

I lifted an eyebrow. "How do you even know if we'll even get back in time for the talent show?"

"I _know _we will." I chuckled, admiring his confidence.

"Told Flash about that?"

"I'm about to, he'll be very disappointed. Especially if he knows all six designers are gone." He took out the iPhone kept in his right pocket. "Wanna FaceTime him with me so I don't explain this whole thing alone?"

"Sure." We lifted ourselves up an went to somewhere more private to talk to him, and advised Thea to tell Pandora that we went to the bathroom if she ever asked.

* * *

We broke the news to him, and he was left with his jaw hanging wide open. "Ah...uh...ack... W-wha?" he stammered.

"That's kinda what happened. In less than twenty-four hours," I explained.

"I cannot believe it!" Flash snapped. "I... They just didn't... Wow!"

"The Fashion Week is canceled, as you may know from the evening news," Benjamin reminded.

"Well, no kidding... What about our practice sessions?"

"Canceled for today and tomorrow. We found the locations of Commander MacArthur and Farah Lemkova, and tonight we're getting them back."

"And... The talent show?"

"We'll find and rescue those women and still get back to NMC in time for the talent show."

"I hope so too... I wish you guys good luck. And come back alive, ya hear?"

"We will," I assured.

We terminated the video call and paced back to the bullpen. "Hey! Where you guys been?" Pandora asked as we bumped into her.

"We went to the bathroom," Benjamin answered.

"That's weird, the bathrooms are that way," she said, pointing at the other direction.

We were stumped. We pouted our mouths, having trouble to think of any excuses.

Geronimo saved our butts when he called a huddle up. "Crew, may I have your attention please?" Everyone looked at him as the leader he is. "I called the French Air Force for plane requests just now. We have ourselves two C-130s for Division One, and two for Division Two."

"And the vans?" Hussein asked.

"Interpol's deploying ten Mercedes Sprinters. Five for each division of the op. And that's not all, the Irish Army offered help for France to take back the areas controlled by The Technologist as soon as the word spread. So the support _we _are receiving are actually included in a company of soldiers they had deployed to here, and are about to touchdown here in two hours."

"Russell?" Thea demanded for an explanation.

"I never knew about that. I thought that they sent _our_ men separately. Probably they we're reassigned," he said.

"We need to move out to Évreux-Fauville Air Base to brief and arm them," Geronimo said. "Interpol sent a mobile armory here as they sent the tactical teams to the air base with the GIGN task forces. We have to drive it there. Hussein?"

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Have you ever commandeered a semi-truck before?"

He scratched his head in nervousness. "Well, just once back in Malaysia, and that was a long time ago. I can try."

"If he can't drive it, I bet that either Thea or Pam can," Paulina said.

We giggled. "C'mon, we'll be be able to get there before they do," Geronimo stated.

"Question," I interrupted.

"Yes, Danny?"

"Are we gonna suit up in camouflage first? I mean, if we were to stay at the base until we run the op."

"Don't worry, the trailer has the clothing we need and some changing rooms. Maybe use one of the facilities in the base if there aren't enough."

"Alright, let's roll."

We made it to the parking lot where our cars and the mobile armory were waiting for us, and drove off to the base.

* * *

**Évreux-Fauville Air Base**

**1137 hours - 1 hour 41 minutes later**

We arrived at the airbase and stopped at a nearby empty hangar that was supposed to house another French C-130. The wind was blowing in our faces, the sky was cloudy, the tarmac was cold and the airbase was completely quiet except with all its staff passing by. We parked our cars and set up shop there, and then a few minutes later, we welcomed the arrival of the GIGN task forces and the Interpol tactical teams. We met and greeted each other, introduced ourselves and geared up.

We junior agents was the first in line to use the changing rooms in the trailer. Benjamin and I were currently occupying them. "Why are they taking so long?" Pandora asked, being the second to use Benjamin's room.

"Their hair," Pinky assumed. "They need time to fix their hairstyle."

Pandora looked at her awkwardly. "Benjamin doesn't have hair."

"Danny does..."

"Yeah, I'm fixing my hair, " I interrupted. "Hang on, I'm coming out."

I opened the door and presented myself in the combat outfit to the girls. "How do I look?" I asked. I wore a long-sleeved digital urban camo shirt tucked into the pants with integrated knee pads, a grey combat belt with pouches and a pair of combat boots with the legs of the pants tucked under them.

"Smart," Pandora described.

"Ready for action!" Pinky added.

"Thanks!" Then I spotted her holding the folded outfit under her arms. "Pinky, what are you doing with those?"

"I'm changing into them... I am coming with you, right?"

She had zero experience in working on the field. Especially in the frontline of battle. "No. I'm sorry, but you're not coming along with us."

I could tell that she didn't take that well, coming from me. "Why not?"

"You're inexperienced. You're not trained properly to partake in frontline firefights."

"But I wanna help!"

"You _can _help, but not in the battlefield. We need a strategist to guide us through the mission, telling us what tactics to use and being our eyes in the sky." The words sunk in. "I just don't want you getting hurt out there. I'd never forgive myself if you were fatally wounded, because I _let _you join."

I gave her a moment to let the advice sink in. "Listen to him, Pinky," Pandora agreed. "He's doing this because he cares about you."

Pinky looked upon me. "I _do_ care about you, Pinky. As much as I care about Thea."

She sighed heavily. "Okay... I won't go."

I smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Russell's not going too, he can keep you company here."

She nodded, and began to sob. "I'm just afraid that you won't come back..."

"Hey! I'm a Jedi. I always come back," I assured. But that didn't make her stop. Instead, she burst into tears.

I came in to comfort her by giving her a warm hug, and she accepted it and wrapped her arms around me. "Shh... I'll come back, I'll come back. I promise."

"Aww... You guys look so cute," Pandora commented.

"Huh... You do look cute," Benjamin said, coming out of the room. I looked at him over Pinky's shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

After that, the rest including the GIGN and Interpol agents got dressed in digital camouflage combat outfits (Colette still applied makeup on her snout), and while the others browsed for recommended weapons, Hussein and I as Muslims performed a prayer somewhere inside the hangar, begging for help from Allah to win us over The Technologists.

After the prayer, we witnessed the landing of a C-130 aircraft of the Irish Air Force on the airstrip, and we gave the Irish troopers a warm welcome after they marched out of their planes and came to us.

"Hi! You must be our military support," Geronimo greeted as the man who appears to be the leader of one of the squads approached us.

"And you must be the guys who called for us," said the Irish half blond. He reached out his hand, and Geronimo shook it. "I'm Sergeant Fergus Anderson, commander of Alpha Six Universal Tactics Unit."

"Anderson!" called another man from behind him.

They looked back, watching another soldier jogging to them. "Hey! Sean, mate!"

"I told you not to start without me!"

"Bah, you're late! Might as well begin."

He finally got in front of them. "So, you're the mouse that people's been talkin' about," said Sean. "I'm Sergeant Sean McCormick, leader of Alpha Seven Universal Tactics Unit."

"I'm Geronimo Stilton, leader of The Crew. It's a pleasure to meet you two."

"Back to you," said Anderson.

"C'mon, let's get you both to meet my team..."

* * *

**1815 hours - 45 minutes till takeoff**

It was nearly mission time. The sun was hanging over the horizon, the sky turned orange, and the airfield was getting dark like the rest of Paris. Hussein's team, The Specters had landed in Paris from Malaysia about five hours ago, and reunited with their captain and The Crew. Everyone involved in the mission directly was suited up in tactical plate carriers with level IV armor plates and mag pouches, and holsters. When I met The Crew back at the truck, they looked stunning and battle-ready. Weapons came next after the briefing.

Pinky and I were briefing all of us. We had set up a projector and a screen at the side of the mobile armory trailer so we would all be on the same page. We had briefed The Specters and their support teams about Operation Nightstrike Division 2 (the mission in Liffré), which was a simple plan. Search the farms, battle Technologist troops on sight, find Lemkova, get out, and don't die.

Currently, we were briefing The Crew and our supporting teams. "You guys are gonna be dropped off to your insertion points by air along with your extraction vehicles," Pinky elaborated. "Alpha Six, GIGN, and Interpol, you'll be jumping first and land at the road a hundred meters south from your infiltration to avoid being spotted. Your vans will land at the same place as you, so you'll be driven there and rush in the gates, take whatever cover you can find and start shooting. You guys act as a diversion so The Crew would have less troops to take care of, so expect being outnumbered by the enemy."

"More guys for us to shoot? I like it!" stated an Alpha Six soldier.

"Shush, Finlay!" Anderson ordered. "Continue, Agent Pick."

"You guys will then signal The Crew when you've started the attack. Then they'll move in."

I took over the briefing session. "Then we, The Crew, will make our entry to the building from the roof entrance, and make our descent. We'll rid every floor of The Technologists, in the same time canvas the area for Commander Lily MacArthur. Once were done, we head to our extraction point at the north entrance gate and signal the diversion team to get out."

"If possible, eliminate every enemy troop on sight. We need this apartment back, you copy?" Pinky emphasized.

"Wilco," said another Alpha Six soldier.

"Now for weapons; Division 2, you guys are about to fight in short to mid-ranged combat," I said. "Mobility and stealth are your greatest friends. Equip light assault rifles, SMGs or shotguns with sound suppressors. Shotguns will be fed with low-spread buckshot shells, and the others will feed on armor piercing rounds. I recommend bringing six spare 60-round mags in reserve for rifles and SMGs, and no limits to shotgun ammo. Grenades are concussion and flashbang only, five grenades per person."

Pinky continued for Division 1. "Division 1's Diversion Team, I want you guys to pack high-capacity machine guns for bringing down an onslaught of enemies. Feeding them armor piercing rounds is ideal. Four boxes of ammo per person should suffice. Bring an extra barrel just in case your current one overheats. Equip flashbangs to blind them, and concussion grenades to take out a group of enemies. Five per person. The Crew, pack light. Assault rifles, SMGs, and shotguns are recommended. Pack enough ammunition, seven spare 60-round magazines should do. And Colette, if you wanna use the AA-12, four 32-round drums should be enough." Colette saluted as a symbol of acknowledgement. "Grenade type and amount is the same as mentioned."

"Go prepare yourselves in the armory," I said. "Wheels are up in forty-five minutes."

"These kids are brilliant!" Finlay said to his sergeant.

"They're geniuses," Anderson replied. "Of course they are."

Then there was a sound of a turboprop plane incoming from the distance from behind the group. All of us looked back, seeing another Lockheed descending onto the airstrip. The plane parked nearby a hangar next to the one we were gathering at, then the cargo doors opened up. It was an unexpected surprise; because the one coming out of the cargo bay pushing a cart with a long crate on it was short, wearing a white lab coat, wore spectacles and had orange fur since he was a mouse. It was no one other than our inventor and scientist friend, Professor Von Volt! Following him were three of the aircraft's loadmasters, also pushing a cart with a crate on it.

"Hello everyone!" said the professor.

"Professor? What are you doing here?" Benjamin asked in surprise.

"Good question..." He stopped the cart right in front of the projector setup. He took the crowbar on top of the crate and said, "Trap called, he said you needed help." began wedging the top open.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Thea asked.

"Remember that I was supplying all the technology for Julie's presentation? I happened to be at Nice at the time, and I had these extra ones with me. So, when Trap called, I knew what to do."

Finlay peered over so he could take a peak. "Can someone tell me how many of these mice are out there?"

"Have you ever read the children's book series, Geronimo Stilton?" Anderson said.

"Yeah, read Stilton's book once. Why?"

"Worldwide. Y'know the one of the designers were looking for?"

"Yeah?"

"She's French, and she's a mouse." Finlay responded by mouthing an "Ah..."

The crate opened. We leaned to see what was inside. "These are the specs Julie presented during Night One," the prof stated. They were already packed in boxes. I took one out of the crate and took a glance. "The were Danial's inventions if you remember McCarran, and I added a few upgrades to it. Everyone take one, I'm sure orange-tinted specs look good on all of you." We grabbed a pair each and unboxed them, and wore them immediately. "Pass them around."

Trap got hold of the cart and pushed it to Anderson. "Hey Anderson! Pass them around..."

The professor wedged open another crate, this time it was filled with grey vented combat helmets with metal mesh on the sides. They were from Julie's presentation the other night. "These are for the mice. There are shutters at the holes to block out a loud boom." Each mouse took one. The cart was pushed aside and another one rolled in. He crack opened the crate and it was full vests. "These are the tactical plate carriers for the ladies." Each female mouse took one, took of their current ones and strapped in the new ones.

"Very comfortable," Colette stated.

"And Benjamin," the prof spluttered, "I have the scout drones." He took out two of them from both lab coat pockets. "This is for Division Two, take it, Trap." He gave a heads up for Anderson and threw the drone to him, and told him what it was. "And this one is actually Max."

"Max? Benjamin's pet robot mouse?" I asked.

"Yes, I converted him into a drone. Just throw him into the air and four propellers will sprout out. Instant quadcopter."

"Thanks prof, " Benjamin said.

"You're welcome. Now, good luck with your rescue mission."

Pinky clapped her paws to get attention. "Chop chop, people! Arm up! You have half an hour!"

* * *

**1845 hours - 15 minutes till takeoff **

The Crew was the last batch to take a turn in the armory. We packed all the ordinance Pinky recommend for us, had enough ammunition to last for the whole mission. At the current time, I was attaching a flash hider for my HK416, Thea was twirling her dual-wielded Glock 18s with Violet and holstered them on their hips, Trap attached a red dot sight on his KSG shotgun, and Colette installed Picattiny rails on the sides and bottom of her AA-12 automatic shotgun's foregrip, and a side scope mount to turn it into a tactical shotgun.

"Well, it's getting awfully quiet around here..." I said as I tightened a screw with an Allen key. "What's everyone's secondaries?"

"Glock 18," answered Thea.

"Glock 18" Geronimo repeated, screwing his EoTech hybrid sights in place.

"Glock 18," Benjamin and Pandora chorused, inspecting their SCAR PDWs.

"What they said," Trap squeaked.

"Glock 18," the Thea Sisters said.

"Looks like everyone's going full auto," I uttered. "Polly, what's your primary when you can't play sniper?"

"I chose the descendant of a classic," she replied, screwing on a foregrip. "An AK-12. Kalashnikov's latest."

Running was heard from the trailer door. "Danny!" Pinky called out. She had something him her paw.

She halted in front of me, panting lightly. "Pierre said you forgot something." She showed me what it was; it was my double bladed lightsaber.

She pawed it over, and I activated it upwards. I stared into it, and deactivated it. "Thanks."

"May the Force be with you, Danny."

"And may God be with us all," Hussein interrupted. He stood at the entrance, all set with his weapons and gear. "You guys ready? Our plane's nearly filled up."

I looked at him as I clipped my saber on a hook at my belt. "Wheels are up in 15 minutes, and we're getting our final touches down... so... I think we'll be done by then."

Five minutes before takeoff, we wore our earpieces, set up our comlinks, put on our helmets, slid on the specs, and marched out of the trailer. The wind blew again, giving the Thea Sisters who let their hair flow out of their helmets some dramatic effect as their locks swayed about.

The Irish soldiers just couldn't keep their eyes off of them. "Gosh, they look beautiful..." said Finlay.

"I thought you already had a girlfriend, Carl," a squadmate of his reminded.

"We broke up, I knew we wouldn't last long."

I leaned towards Benjamin and whispered, "Finlay reminds me of that 'Shut up, Carl' meme."

"I think he's the type of soldier who's EXACTLY like that meme," he said.

"Alright everyone, may I have your attention?" Geronimo demanded. "We are facing a resurrected enemy. We must bring them to their knees once and for all, but to do that, we must give them all we've got."

"SIR YES SIR!" Everyone shouted.

He received a transmission through the comlink. It was the pilots of our aircrafs'. "Right, everyone. Aboard the the planes and strap yourselves in. They're all filled and ready to take off, parachutes are on your chairs."

Pamela and Hussein said their farewells, and so did Pinky and I. "Be careful out there," Pinky advised.

"I will," I said confidently. We had a short hug, and I joined the group of soldiers, standing it the from with The Crew behind Anderson.

"OPERATION NIGHTSTRIKE COMPANY, MARCH!" Anderson hacked.

We jogged to the place where our C-130s were waiting for us; the nearest end of the runway. Division 1 and 2 split up and boarded their respective planes. We strapped the parachutes to ourselves and ourselves onto the chairs, and after a rough takeoff we were in the sky five minutes later.

* * *

**15,000 feet above France **

**1955 hours - 5 minutes till jump**

Fifty-five minutes into the flight, and we were almost there. We checked our parachutes and made sure the bottled oxygen on our vests were filled until would last for the next 1,000 feet of free fall. Anyway, Division 2 separated from our flight path and headed to Liffré, leaving our two planes to take on Rennes.

I looked at everyone. The most of us had calm and excited faces while on the way. They told stories, jokes, or discussed what they were going to do back on the ground. It was a totally new experience to me, because it was my first time skydiving. But Geronimo? Geronimo was restless. He wouldn't squeak, he wouldn't respond when spoken to, but all he could do was shiver in fear.

"Uncle G, you've been shaking for the past hour. Are you alright?" Benjamin asked while shouting through the noise of the turboprop engines.

"Yeah, you gotta focus. Or the fear will throw you off the mission," I reasoned.

"What's with this mouse, sarge?" Finlay asked his team captain.

"He's afraid of flying," Anderson said. "I really wished you read his books before we partook on this mission."

"Anderson's right," Geronimo uttered loudly. "I'm afraid. Combat is still bearable, but flying and falling out of a plane at fifteen thousand feet? That is way passed my comfort zone."

Thea, being seated next to him, pat her paw on his lap. "Geronimo, don't be afraid. I'm with you. We're _all _with you." Geronimo kept quiet. "I'll guide you, alright?"

Geronimo closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and sighed it out to rid the fear, and put his whole trust in his sister. "Okay."

* * *

Four minutes went by. "Attention all troopers, we are approaching ze drop zone," said the pilot. "Sixty seconds until jump."

Everyone unstrapped their belts and stood up, lining up to the cargo door with Geronimo in front. "Your attention please, troops. I want all comlinks turned on. Keep in touch at _all times. _Your specs are to be set at nightvision when we reach the ground, and have Smart Ally/Enemy Recognition turned on. Your objectives are programmed into the specs and are marked in your HUD. Make sure you follow them accordingly. Remember the plan; do NOT improvise. Protect your teammates, make sure everyone comes back alive."

We configured our specs, and set up our comlinks. As we all wore our oxygen masks, Geronimo turned back to the cargo doors, and held Thea's paw as the door opened downwards, revealing the darkness of the night. The wind blew in, and the sound of it was loud as ever than before of the turboprops spinning.

"Ready, G?" Thea asked through her comlink.

"Yes," he replied. I bet that his stomach churned and bounced around as if it wanted to escape some unseen entity.

"30 seconds," the pilot alerted.

"Whatever happens, it was nice meeting all of you," Finlay said.

"You too, Finlay!" I replied.

We watched the ground below move slowly as time started to countdown by the pilot. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six..."

"This is gonna be good!" Pamela said.

"Five..."

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One...! GO! GO! GO!"

After Geronimo and Thea jumped ahead while holding paws, The Crew proceeded, followed by the GIGN, then the Irish Army, and then Interpol with shouts, bellows and cheers of excitements.

5 seconds into the jump, all I heard was was the wind screaming by my ears, and of course, my own. "WHOOOOHOOOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!"

"I'M HAVING THE GREATEST TIME OF MY LIFE!" Pandora shouted at the top of her lungs. She stuck together with Benjamin.

"YEAH-HA-HA!" Benjamin cheered.

"THIS BUCKET LIST ITEM IS CHECKED!" Trap said as he flew by me.

"WOOHOO!" The Thea Sisters screamed. They formed a five-mouse airborne star by joining their paws.

Geronimo in the other hand, got so scared, he closed his eyes during the fall. "G! Open your eyes!" Thea urged.

"NO!" he refused.

"JUST LOOK!"

He still refused, but in the same time, he still wanted to face his fear of flying. He started to open one eye by a crack, just to take a peak. Then inside his head, bravery took over little by little, making him open both eyes wider.

"Look at the scenery, Geronimo!"

We were over the clouds. We saw the crescent moon fading away as the month ends, giving out little light the bounced off them. He enjoyed it no less than everyone, admiring the beauty hidden in the skies of the earth. In fact, he liked the view so much, he couldn't even tell that he was falling at 130 miles an hour because nothing around him moved but us.

"It's... Beautiful..." he uttered.

"I know, right?" Thea agreed.

He froze, left speechless. He looked down, getting a glimpse of the lights in the city through the unclouded areas. He let himself fall with the guide of his sister, slowly accepting it. "Ha ha... I'm doing it! I'M DOING IT!"

"That's the spirit, G!" I congratulated.

"Way to go, Uncle G!" Benjamin shouted.

"Yeah cous!" Trap encouraged.

"There ya go, mate!" Anderson spirited.

Then he realized; he wasn't falling. He was gliding.

"WOOOOHOOOO!" Geronimo screamed.

We enjoyed the free fall whilst doing tricks in the sky for one and a half minute, until the altimeter on my specs's HUD and on my watch started beeping at 3,000 feet. By then, we could see the ground clearly. "There goes the altimeter, guys. Pull your chutes on my mark," I instructed. "Three, two, one... PULL! PULL! PULL!"

Our reflexes synchronized and we pulled our parachutes at the same time. The harness hugged my body tightly, and made me feel comfortable and safe as the black 'umbrella' glided us down slowly. "Alright, lads and lasses," Anderson spoke. "We'll see you back on the ground during the exfiltration."

"Copy that, Diversion Team," Thea received as we watched the thirty men glide down to their insertion.

"That.. was _the_ most thrilling experience... I ever had in my life," Geronimo stated.

"I told ya it'd be," Thea said.

We had 1,000 feet more to go. Just surpassing below the 1,000 mark, we heard the sounds of gunfire in the distance. "You hear that, cousin?" Trap asked.

"Yes, I do," Geronimo replied. "The French Army deployed their soldiers to retake the city."

"Hope victory will be ours..." Benjamin uttered.

The roof building was in sight. It was solid as concrete and looked like it could definitely break some bones if not landed properly on. "I have a visual on the building," Paulina said.

"Copy that," Geronimo said. "Proceed with caution and stealth."

The roof's surface was big and lit with some construction lights, big enough for us to soften the landing with a run and bright enough so we wouldn't crash into anything. We landed on our paws and feet one by one with no harm inflicted, and then we loosened the harnesses and dumped the chutes on the ground with the bottled oxygen. "Insertion successful," I reported to the Diversion Team. "Standing by for your signal to start."

"Roger that," responded Anderson. "We're in our vans, standby for our signal."

Trap had troubles unbuckling his harness. "C'mon, you stupid buckle!" he whispered angrily. Thea came to help, and found that the buckle was stuck. So she placed her hind paws on his somewhat round belly and began pulling the buckle in attempt to free Trap while she kicked her paws against him.

Meanwhile that happened in the background, Benjamin brought out Max from one of his belt pouches. "Spread your wings, lil' buddy," he whispered to the robot mouse. He flung him in the air, and the four rotors spread from Max's center and instantly spun to enable flight.

Violet came to aid Trap and Thea with a knife. While Thea was still pulling, Violet slid a knife under the harness and slit it clean with one swipe. Thea and Trap fell backwards with a thud. They instantly got back on their paws and wielded their weapons.

"Nightvision on, everyone," Geronimo ordered. We configured the modes on our specs and then everything in the world turned green for us.

Then a transmission came thorough the comlink from the airbase. "Division 1 Rescue Team, it's Pinky. Do you copy?" she began.

"We copy," Geronimo replied. "We landed safe on the roof, standing by for the diversion."

"Good to hear. I see you guys on the roof by a nightvision satellite feed, I'll guide you through with that and through Max's camera."

"Roger."

"RESCUE TEAM MOVE IN!" Anderson signaled. "The diversion has stared!"

"Copy that," Geronimo replied. Everyone wielded their primaries. "That's our cue. Pinky, do you see an entrance anywhere?"

"I see one. I think that's a roof access door to your east."

We turned ourselves facing east, and saw the access door. "We see it."

Max proceeded and whirred pass us and made it first to an access door. Geronimo opened it, but what we expected was a stairwell, was actually an empty space all the way to the ground floor. Geronimo was about to take a step in, but I quickly pulled him to safety by the shoulder.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "That was close!"

"This isn't the roof access," I analyzed. "It's an empty elevator shaft. C'mon, we need to search for another entrance."

"Have Max to fly around the building," Pinky requested.

"Do your thing, Max," Benjamin urged.

The drone flew off the edge of the building at the south side, and came back to report something promising. "There's a window leading to a stairwell on the sixth floor balcony."

"Anywhere we can access that?"

"There's a ladder south of your position, you can descend one floor down and have to jump to it."

Just when we expected Max to follow us, he flew elsewhere to was a box container with a wooden door cut into it, used as a break room for the construction workers. "Max, where are you going?" asked his master.

Our eyes focused on him when he made it to the container. Max emitted a sonar beep, which to the specs was a blue hemisphere expanding around him. The specs highlighted the outline of a person in green, sitting down on the floor, hugging her legs inside the container.

"We need to check that out," Geronimo said.

We knocked the door down by kicking it using Thea's leg, and we breached (not all of us). We were shocked and relieved to find that it was the designer taken hostage, Commander Lily MacArthur, sleeping in a corner under a single ray of light as she waited for help. She was mildly beaten; had scratches and wounds with blood clotting from it. She was bound with a rope and gagged with a piece of duct tape stuck on her lips.

"It's Commander MacArthur..." Trap uttered.

Geronimo approached her slowly and crouched down. "Commander," he called gently, and she responded by lifting her head up, "it's me. Geronimo Stilton. My team and I have come to rescue you." He pulled the tape carefully to avoid hurting her. "It's alright now, understand?" She nodded. "Can you walk?"

"They haven't fed me since they'd taken me," said the Aussie lady weakly. "I have barely the energy to stand."

"In that case... Trap, carry her."

"No problem," he said. He had it in the bag, because in our team, he was the muscles despite his weight. He lifted her up and placed her on his shoulder and walked out of the container with Geronimo following.

"Situation update, we've found MacArthur," he reported to Pinky and the Diversion Team. "We're making our way down as we speak."

"Roger that," said Anderson.

"Hang tight, over." He ended the transmission. "Let's move."

We took turns on going down the ladder. Trap was the only one who used the steps for MacArthur's sake as we slid down on the 9th floor balcony. "G, we can't put her in the crossfire," Trap said. "She has a big chance of getting hit."

I looked around for something; then I saw a construction elevator on a construction platform with metal walls and base, tall enough for a sitting person to take cover. "Pinky, where does this elevator lead?"

"Let me see..." Max flew off and came back a couple of seconds later. "All the way down to the courtyard."

"You can put her in there, Trap," I suggested.

He opened the door and laid the commander down. "We'll come back for you, kay?" he said.

Trap shut the door, and immediately Geronimo found the controls and activated the elevator to go down. "We have to make sure no harm come to her, understood?" Everyone nodded. "Advance."

We again took turns and leaped the platform to the ledge of the floor, and jumped a floor down and landed on all fours. The window Pinky mentioned was at the right, so Max went ahead in as we got to it sneaking with Thea and I in the lead. Not one second after, Max emitted another sonar beep, and this time it highlighted the two targets red. We met our first enemies.

"CONTACT!" I shouted to alarm everyone. We fired our first few rounds at the enemy troops in full auto as we kept moving, and proceeded to the dimly lit stairwell in the dark. We stumped into two more Technologist troops; as Max highlighted them, Thea and I shot the first one, and Trap planted buckshots into the other from his shotgun, and another one from the bottom of the stairs about to climb up. Once they were taken care of, we halted as heard more shouting downstairs.

"Drop a grenade down there, Danny," Thea requested.

I plucked a concussion grenade from my belt and pulled the pin, shook off the safety lever, and let it go directly below through the stair rails. "Fire in the hole!" I alerted.

Thea took a peek down for a split second as the enemies screamed, "GRENADE! GRENADE-"

BOOM! The 'nade went off with a flash of light. Thea pulled her face back and looked away to avoid debris, and a cloud of dust rose up from the ground to our floor. Geronimo stepped up and took lead the way with Max hovering ahead of him. "Forward!" He cued. We continued downstairs through the airborne dust, and we caught an ugly sight after we passed the cloud what was left of the troops that got caught in the explosion. "Great Gouda, this is embarrassing," he commented on the corpses. There was blood spattered on the wall, and a dismembered arm left its owner squirting blood at the arm socket.

I looked back as I continued moving, and so did the others.

We marched down a hall, long enough to hold all eleven of us in. Just as we were to enter the bright apartment's corridors, a hail of bullets ambushed us right around the left corner. We pulled ourselves back, and stacked ourselves against both sides of the hall. Then more bullets came raining at us in full auto, hitting every wall, pillar, and floor in our path. "That was a close one," Nicky said.

Then another enemy soldier showed if at the stairwell. The Thea Sisters and the other two Junior agents at the back all shot at him at once, and left him for dead in a pool of blood.

"Any ideas on how to get pass this?" Violet asked, dropping her empty magazines from her dual-wielded Glock 18s and reloaded.

"I got one," Thea chimed. "Trap, Pamela, and Nicky, you're with me. We're gonna move into position at the corridor, and provide some cover fire so the rest can move in. Ready?" They all nodded. "MOVE OUT!"

The four mice headed out into the open crossfire. They fired bursts of rounds to suppress the enemy troops so they can get to cover. Once they they were in position, they kept suppressing for us to move in. "GET INTO POSITION!" Thea yelled as a bullet from above hit the concrete right in front of her snout, and that made her flinch.

As she and the other three kept gunning them down back into cover, we moved in whilst firing a hail of suppressive lead projectiles and hid at whichever cover space we could find as soon as we got to it. We were in a bad situation before we even knew it; we were gunned down from enemies on both our floor and the 9th floor.

"Everyone fan out! There'll be less chances to get shot together if were separated," I ordered, switching my HK416 to semi-auto.

But the result of that was shortage of cover space. Paulina, Colette, and Violet didn't have the chance to get in position. "There are no spots left!" Paulina said.

More bullets rained down on us when The Technologist troops brought out a PKP Pecheneg machine gun. "You girls go around them!" I said as I sprayed more rounds to the top floor. "We'll cover you!"

Then all of us poke our heads out of cover, and went all guns blazing at them so the three girls can safely run around us. But the suppression tactic didn't actually work; the machine gunner and his partner kept on firing as the girls ran behind us, dodging every bullet that came towards them into another dark hallway. Meanwhile, the machine gunner and his partner got shot in the head by Pandora.

"Nice shot, Pandora!" Benjamin congratulated as both fired off a burst of four rounds.

"But we're still being pinned down!" Geronimo stated, flinching as a bullet struck the concrete wall when he wanted to shoot. "We need to get rid of those above us!"

I started to hatch a crazy idea. "I think I can handle them..."

* * *

**Paulina's Perspective**

Max followed us. We dodged every single bullet that came across our path as we sprinted until we kicked down a door and entered a dark and empty hallway. At the end of it was a barricaded window which Max highlighted at the other side was an enemy who had the same plan as we did. The barricade was wooden, so Colette just blasted the enemy down through it.

While wielding my sidearm, I charged through the weakened barricade with my shoulder and onto another balcony. We made a left and embedded three rounds into another troop standing and firing at our team through the window, unaware of our prescience. "That oughta teach you to shoot at my team," I taunted. Violet and Colette followed me behind as I holstered my machine pistol and got my AK-12 and cocked it. "C'mon, girls," I called them both.

Max did his job; he pointed out four more red targets for us to eliminate. As we continued to fire in short bursts at the enemies in the corridor across The Crew through the window, time slowed down as we three saw Danny jump off the corridor, reaching the upper level over the courtyard, pulling off a 360-degree spin in midair while wielding his lightsaber, and Force Pushed the enemy troops away.

There was another entrance at the end of the balcony, and the inside was fairly lit. Another Technologist militant appeared at the entrance, so in quick reflex, I shot him in the head. The three of us stepped on his corpse, and I went through the doorway and threw myself on the ground. The sand on the floor broke my fall as I landed on my shoulder, and I shot three rounds into the chest of a Technologist militant. "GO! GO! GET 'EM!" I told my two teammates.

I got back on my paws. I saw the elevator went down beside me as my teammates gunned down the other two enemies that gave pressure to The Crew. But they weren't done just yet; there were two more at the side, shooting at full automatic non-stop. Violet finished off by throwing a grenade at them, and we watched them get lifted off their feet and slammed themselves on the ground.

At the other side, everyone peeped out of cover. "Don't let her get below you, mouselets!" Geronimo ordered. They went back to the stairwell to go one floor down while Danny jumped off the floor above us, and landed two floors later.

We looked for the commander, and the three of us paced back at the spot where the elevator was the most closest to the low concrete wall. The elevator went down slowly, and just passed below wall. So made a daring act and boosted myself up to the edge of the wall by stepping on another Technologist body, then leaped off on top of one of the sides of the elevator. I balanced myself to get to the left, and Colette jumped to where I was before. To avoid the elevator being lowered too far down for Violet to reach, I spotted a beam at the 4th floor which had no floor at _this_ side of the building. Just an empty space all the way to the 3rd floor.

I jumped on the beam. I crouched to keep my balance intact and turned right and made my way to the nearest pillar. Colette moved and did the same. Violet was the last, arriving on the beam with a crouch.

There was another construction platform at the pillar with its base built on the courtyard. Max flew in and gave another sonar beep, highlighting three more enemies incoming below us. "Heads up, girls. Three bogies in the dark coming your way," Pinkie warned.

"Copy that," I whispered.

They emerged out of the darkness, in an a vigilant state; aiming down the sights of their weapons as they crept silently in search of us. "Contact," I whispered into my mouthpiece.

We circled around the pillar, standing on the platform so we wouldn't be seen. They walked by the pillar; above them another beam supporting the building across the floor. We took the chance to take them out, so we moved onto _that_ beam and jumped on them. I dug my hind paws on to one of the men's shoulders, Colette made use of her tail and tied it around her opponents neck and strangled him to death, and Violet punched her opponent in the face, jammed his weapon from firing, and took hold of the magazine, then whacked him in the head twice (the second time was the one that knocked him out).

Just when we thought it was all over, another Technologist troop walked up the scene; highlighted by Max. Violet still had that magazine in her paw, so she threw it at him on the head in reflex. Unexpectedly, he died of being shot in the head that came from the corridor above and across us. It was Danny, with his HK416. I gave him the okay signal, then we heard something from where the fourth militant came through. I quickly ran and dove sideways at that direction and aimed my Kalashnikov, watching an enemy troop approach. I took five shots to end his life, and lifted myself back up.

We heard more gunshots after that, from the bottom and our floor. We took a glance over the low concrete wall and it turned out to be more troops coming up from the courtyard. "We've got more company from the courtyard," Geronimo reported.

"I see 'em," I acknowledged. We took our positions and opened fire at them randomly, as long as they were suppressed. They fired back in numbers, so we decided to move on and descend one floor down to take on them head on instead of wasting ammo. So we left the scene, with me flinging a grenade over as a distraction. "Fire in the hole!" I whispered through the comlink.

At the other end of the corridor was a single flight of stairs, unguarded by any rails. We went to it, but our ears picked up movement from below. They were already down there.

We froze, not to alarm them. Colette flipped the front of her AA-12 and grabbed it with her right paw so the other one could get a grenade from her belt. She pulled the pin and rolled it on the ground, letting it fall down the stairs. It exploded, with the enemy soldier that got lifted high enough until his dismembered body was seen over the stairs. The men at the bottom could see us where we stood, so we fired off a few rounds at them before they could at us.

We ran down the short set of stairs, directly in front of the floor entrance. At the other side of it was a Technologist militant and his partner behind him, just around the corner. I shot the one in front of me at point blank, and his partner wanted a piece of me and took his shot behind a pillar around the left corner. We exchanged fire for a few times until Violet took over as a distraction so I could take him out. I speedily sneaked up to the pillar where he hid behind, slid myself on the ground, and shot him in the midsection. I spun myself back up and moved forward towards the same stairwell, where the rest of The Crew showed up from.

My magazine was empty, so it was time for my first reload. I grabbed a full mag from my vest, pushed the mag release with it along with the empty one away flying, inserted the new one in, and chambered a new round. At the most perfect timing possible, Danny with his lightsaber confronted a militant head to head at the stairs leading to the ground floor. So he Force Pushed him away, making him fly at my height where I stood. In the process, I fired some rounds into his chest to end his misery.

"Nice shot," he complimented as he put away his lightsaber.

"Nice push," I complemented.

Then the rest of The Crew showed up from the stairs, Thea being in first. "Hey, good job you guys," she congratulated. "Especially you girls."

We three wore proud smiles, coming from our teacher.

* * *

**My Perspective**

We skipped down the stairs and raced towards MacArthur as the elevator touched the courtyard. "You know what to do, Trap," Geronimo reminded.

We stood guard around the elevator in a circle, keeping an eye out for oncoming enemies. Trap flung the door open and carried MacArthur in his arms. "Don't worry, miss. We'll get you out off here," he assured her.

"We've got her, all units exfiltrate," Geronimo updated.

"Affirmative," Anderson responded. "Diversion Team, exfiltrate!"

"Let's go, G," Trap said.

"Everyone cover for Trap," Geronimo ordered, looking around cautiously. "Open fire at any hostile in sight. Let's get out of here."

We crossed the courtyard walking backwards and headed for our next marked objective in the HUD. Yeah, we planned to retake the apartment, but we didn't do that exactly. We may have left some floors unswept from enemy control because our main objective was MacArthur. So... Here's what happened next, as consequence to failing to achieve our secondary objective.

"Uh guys..." Pinky trembled. "You've got multiple hostiles closing in south of the building!"

"Max!" Benjamin called out. Max sonar beeped, and revealed the enemies lurking around in the area. By God, we were in for the worst possible moments of battle in our lives. Their numbers were way bigger compared to ours.

"Well, crap," I cursed, reloading my assault rifle.

The adrenaline rush kicked into our bloodstream, giving us extra awareness as we were about to fight the most unfair fight in the history of The Crew. "THERE THEY ARE!" shouted an unknown British voice.

We underestimated them. Immediately, we were swarmed and overwhelmed by Technologist troops coming from the opposite of us. "CONTACT!" I yelled.

"FIRE AT WILL!" Geronimo commanded, pulling his trigger in instinct.

Another shootout began. We moved back to the pillars and started shooting from behind there. Most of us had little to almost no place to take cover from the hail of deadly bullets that whizzed pass our ears, so we were forced to share. "COLETTE AND VIOLET, GET MY COUSIN OUT OF THE CROSSFIRE!" Thea hacked, shooting alongside me.

They went to help Trap, with Max following them. Nicky, Paulina, and Pamela stuck with us to help us deal with them. "We're in the clear, Geronimo! We're almost at the van," Violet squeaked.

"FALL BACK, CREW! TO THE VAN, QUICKLY!" Geronimo cried out.

We moved out of cover as we kept our triggers pulled. My rifle clicked on empty, and I quickly finished reloading, and ran out second last before Pandora and Thea. Out of nowhere, a wild bullet managed to strike one of us in the thigh. She screamed in pain, lost her balance on one paw, and collapsed herself on the dirt.

It was no other than the one dearest to Benjamin's heart, which he witnessed happen. "PANDORA!"

He stopped firing, throwing his slung weapon to his back and rushed to her aid. "Pandora!" He called out. He looked at her wound, hovering his paws over her as she groaned in pain. He tried to think of an action to take, but he couldn't because he panicked, unsure of what to do. Someone had to do something fast, because both of them sat right in the middle of the line of fire.

I acted quick, getting them to take cover behind me and used my Force abilities to deflect bullets. "Get her out of here, Benjy!" I urged, holding my hands up in front of me. "We've got your six!"

Geronimo came back, and stood his ground, spraying rounds at random targets. Thea had my right side, doing the same, so did Nicky, Paulina, and Pamela. Benjamin on the other hand, was still processing what I just said. "GO!" I bawled.

Benjamin finally snapped out of it. He took Pandora's SCAR PDW and slung it on his shoulder, and then he tucked his left arm under Pandora's legs and slid the other one under her back until it reached her shoulder. He lifted her up and jogged out of the scene, heroically carrying her in his arms, bringing her to safety and comforting her by saying, "It's gonna be fine, okay? You're safe with me..."

As soon as they started to escape the scene, we did as well. I kept deflecting the bullets while running backwards towards the exit and gave my teammates a opportunity to flee.

We exited the area and located the van outside the gate. With the backdoors open, we jumped in; most of us took the chairs at the side, while Benjamin and Pandora occupied the floor. Meanwhile, Thea took the driver's seat and Geronimo rode shotgun. Thea started up the Sprinter and we drove off in a squeal of tires.

Geronimo twisted himself and peeped through the little window separating the cockpit and the passenger area. "Is she alright, Danny?" he asked, concerned about Pandora.

"IT HURTS!" she wailed.

Benjamin had her head and back rested on his lap. "Just hang in there, Pandora. Danny will take a look and patch you up, alright?" he assured as he looked over her. He turned to me and asked, "How bad is it?"

"I'd say not that bad if it was me," I said. "But according to her, it could be worse." She had the leg that got shot bent upwards. "I'm gonna need to bend your leg down, okay? You'll feel something, but I need you to resist it."

"Grip my paw if you can't take it," Benjamin suggested, holding his paw out. She took it and held it with a thumb grip.

"Three, two, one!"

I straightened her leg, and she screamed. She definitely felt it because the bullet went right above her knee cap. "Great Gouda, your grip is strong!" Benjamin grunted.

"Right. That's done. I didn't see an exit wound, so that's a good sign. I'm gonna x-ray you to see how much damage you sustained." I turned on my x-ray vision and scanned through her injury. I spotted the bullet, all crunched up in there and it was about to touch her thigh bone. "I see the bullet," I reported.

"PULL IT OUT!" Pandora demanded.

"Okay, I'm gonna use The Force to take it out." Dont worry, MacArthur was asleep. So she never knew. "A little bit more painful than before, but it's WAY more painful if wedged out with something sharp. Ready?" She nodded a yes. "Three, two, one!"

She tried to reduce her screams down to groans as I used The Force to pull it out gently so I wouldn't inflict any more pain. She held it back, and a few seconds later, it sprouted out of her wound all compacted and it was covered in blood. The Thea Sisters looked away disturbed, and some hissed as if they were the one that in Pandora's position. The groaning stopped and Pandora was relieved. I repaired the damage tissue in her thigh, closed up her wound, and motivated the bald spot to grow fur.

The slug was still held by the Force, floating above my hand. "I gotta say, you were lucky indeed. The bullet the hit you was an armor piercing round. If it wasn't for your the layer of Kevlar in your pants, the bullet would have made it through, destroying your femur in the process, and made you bleed out."

Then I made my most important and impacting point: "And if Benjamin wasn't there to carry you out, you would have been dead. He saved your life back there." I said that so Pandora would fall in love with him more.

She shot him with a stare into his eyes with a smile. "Uh... You're welcome...?" he said shyly. Pandora didn't have anymore words to squeak, then she made her arms worked around Benjamin and embraced him as she was lying down an uttered, "My hero..." She continued to cuddle with him and didn't even move. That made Benjamin melt, trying to hide it as much as he could. Everyone awed silently to not interrupt the moment.

"Are you gonna stay like this...or...?" Benjamin asked her.

"Yup... Hope you don't mind..."

I gave him a thumbs up and pulled an ol' 'Good job!' smile.

"Alright guys, better get some shut eye," Thea told. "I'll wake y'all up when we get to South Brittany Airport."

We were exhausted, so we slept all the way until we reached the airport.

* * *

**Guys, I have an announcement to make. In 2016, I'll be taking a big test and will be prepping for it for the whole year. I'm not sure how much time I can give for myself to write more, but updates won't be often. I'll finish off this one as soon as I can, but until the test ends at the end of the year, there will be no more new stories (I hope not). So, pray for my success, and thank you for all your support. I wouldn't have made it here without you guys.**


	17. Chapter 17-Operation Waterfront

**A/N: Top of the morning, to ya lads and lassies! My name is Malaysianpro, and today, I bring you Chapter 17 of Trouble In France! Thought I was putting my story on hold, did ya now? I have to apologize for my long hiatus, I was focusing on my mid terms for this year and I will probably disappear again after this to prepare for my final year exams. Then I'll be home free! So, I brought you this EXTRA LONG chapter to compensate my lateness and my future hiatus, but be sure that you have the next hour and a half to yourselves because this is how long it will take to read the whole chapter (18,490 words!). **

**I would also also like to give a big shoutout to fellow author Sora Pendragon, a fellow writer whom I met after his wonderful review of The Beginning a f****ew weeks ago. And I'd like to express my many thanks to him because he's been giving me ideas which I appreciate very much, and I hope that his story in this fandom will be successful. Go check out his profile. **

**Without further a due, let's get on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters and stories will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Operation Waterfront **

**Évreux-Fauville Air Base**  
**2213 hours**

After an hour-long flight, the wheels on our cargo craft screeched and smoked as they met the tarmac on the runway of the airbase. Later, three other planes proceeded after us, and the pilots parked in front of the hangars by the mobile armory so we'd get there easier.

As the cargo doors flipped down open, we marched out with whatever gear we had put on ourselves. We took fast steps though we were tired, slinging our primaries on a shoulder and holding our helmets down because our heads needed to breath. MacArthur and Lemkova were flown in a separate flight to Lyon. As usual, we were led by our team leader, Geronimo, followed by Thea and me by his side, and the rest of our division. Joining us were Division 2, led by Hussein.

We were tired as heck, as said. Joints were aching, ankles sprained, backs felt like they were about snap, and Pandora still hasn't fully recovered because there was still pain felt in her thigh, so she limped as Benjamin lent her his neck for her arms to wrap around and walked with her until we got to the truck.

We saw the two of three that stayed behind while we were gone, standing out at the trailer ramp with their hands in their pockets. Pinky was inside, came dashing out and leaping out as she got to the ramp. We were halfway to them when she sprinted across the stretch towards me, and I braced myself for another one of Pinky's hugs.

"I'm so glad that you guys are back," she said over my shoulder.

"Us too, Pinky..." I replied, in efforts of catching a breath. The only thing that made me able to respirate was my vest.

She let go first and we kept walking. "I heard Pandora got shot. Is she okay?" she asked in concern.

"She got patched up with Danny's help," Benjamin answered. "She'll be fine."

"Thank Gouda..."

The spotlight that lit up the tarmac shone on top of us. "Second objective wasn't accomplished, huh?" she asked Geronimo.

"Well, we did what we could," the squad leader said. "We have the commander safe and sound, and that's what matters."

The sounds of the wind whistled by our ears. "I had the French army to deploy two squads to retake the building. It won't take them long."

"Oh? Well then... thank you, Pinky."

"Any leads on where the other hostages are while we were gone?" I asked.

"I did. But it's not for us to discuss now, you guys just ran a rescue op. You need some rest."

Finlay overheard our conversation. "Where should we sleep?" he said.

"The airbase's staff said they had some five-man tents in storage. They pitched them up in the empty hangar, you guys can sleep in there," Pinky said. She sharply turned back to me. "In case there weren't enough, you could sleep in your cars."

"I love the way you think, Pinks."

We got to the mobile armory, seeing Prof Von Volt and Russell awaiting our arrival. "Welcome back, mates!" Russell celebrated.

"Job well done, my friends!" the prof cheered.

After a light dinner and a change clothes to night attires, most of us went to bed while the Prof and Russell stayed up late to have a chatter near the armory.

* * *

**Saturday - March 28, 2014**  
**0449 hours**

I found myself awake a few hours later, sleeping in the comfort of Pierre with Geronimo occupying the passenger's seat as a roommate. The holographic infotainment screen displaying my music library was lit still yet dimmed as the stereo played soothing piano instrumentals to help me fall asleep. I saw my stepbrother snoozing with his arms crossed and snout buried into them, shivering. As a thoughtful move, I let my hand pierce through the holo display and turned the heater up at the middle console. I got out and flipped the hood up so I could get my towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, and my lightsaber.

After a quick and cold shower in the men's restroom trailer at the side of the hangar Geronimo requested from the General Secretariat, I took a walk to around in the same clothes. Strolling by my cars, checking out the guns in the armory... Then I was caught by Thea at the trailer ramp, staring at me holding an M249 SAW. "Huh, you're up early," I started.

"Just trying to do what you do," she said. "So, how'd you hold up the past two weeks without me?"

I inhaled deeply and sighed, mounting the gun back on its rack. "Terribly. I haven't spent a single day without you, ever since we first met each other."

She climbed up the ramp. "Still not used to not having me around, huh?"

"I guess so. But hey? We had this week with ourselves, and we pretty much hung out together a lot."

"You're right about that..." She clasped her paws, and leaned against the frame of a gun rack. "Professor Philips... When you fainted at The Gazette, did he faint too?"

"He's a stronger Jedi than I am, so he didn't. But it was very painful, nearly made him have a heart attack. The moment I saw Williams' face... his eyes... I quickly recalled and related that incident with this."

"We were given a heads up twice about this..." She stared up at the open night sky. "Yet we didn't know what was coming."

"Wait, me fainting was one. What was the other?"

"Remember when we interviewed The Specters for them being the first human group to travel to New Mouse City?"

"Yeah?"

"A caller said that he saw a person under the Eiffel Tower looking like Williams when he was going to his wife's family's place for Christmas."

That was during New Year's Day. "Oh. That."

I picked up the 2-foot long lightsaber attached to the belt hooks on my jeans, inspecting it. She looked at it too, then broke the silence. "Were you prepared for this before you even know it?"

I swiveled my head an looked at her. "In what terms?" I asked.

"Sword fighting," she said. "Now we know that he has somehow turned into a Sith, he's supposed to have a lightsaber.

"In a few weeks, not really."

She arched her eyebrows. "Follow me."

With the lightsaber still in my hand, I tailed her out onto the tarmac. We were at an empty space, free of cars, planes and there were no lamp posts to cast out light upon us... She stopped and turned around, so I stopped thirty feet opposite of her. "What are we doing _here_?"

"It's been a while since I sparred with you," she stated. She was right, the last time we sparred together was three weeks ago. "So I'd thought we'd spar now for your sake."

I raised an eyebrow. "I suppose... Sure."

"Good. Now split your saber and throw one of the halves to me."

My lightsaber is actually a double-bladed type which I can split the hilts in two. I twisted the hilt in two ends of the saber and a click signifies that the lock has been undone, and I pulled the two apart, taking a little bit of force to break the magnetic pull that guided the two butts of the hilts into the sockets. I flung the lightsaber at her, and she caught it with her right paw with ease.

She activated the saber and held it at her right side in a bent-leg stance. "I'm not gonna go easy on you," she warned.

I turned on mine and held it in front of me, glaring at her pass the blade in a stance with my legs spread out and bent. "Be my guest," I challenged.

We stood at our places, keeping our glares locked into each others eyes, squinting as the lightsabers hummed violently in the quiet night, filling our ears.

Without even a countdown to start the duel, she did a ninja sprint towards me with the saber pointed down behind her, and bellowed halfway through.

"Here it comes..." I muttered to myself.

She swung her saber upwards right for my face as she jumped, twirled, and brought it around, then striking my saber to fend it off, and landed with her left leg bent forward while the other extended behind her. She immediately continued to throw in a series of slashes which I managed to dodge and parry away. then I found an advantage when she recovered too long from her lightsaber getting parried so I retaliated. I released a frenzy of thrusts and stabs as well as strikes to her which she got to counter quickly after I had the upper hand. In one attempt to stop her, I didn't parry her next attack, rather engaged ourselves in a bladelock.

The sounds of our sabers clashing made our ears ring. "I gotta admit, you're pretty good," I commented.

"You're not too bad yourself," she responded.

I backflipped away, and she backed off a step as she swirled the saber above her head and stopped when we both reset to our stances.

We continued on. I jumped forward in a flip, striking my saber with hers as I land and she blocked it. She started her attacks right after that, slash after swing after thrust as the pitch of the hums grew higher in each swing. She was tough, and believe it or not, she was throwing me off.

I know that it might have not been fair, but after she made a heavy sideways swing then back around over her head, and as I put my saber in front of my face then they collided, I used the Force to speed around to behind her.

"Hey, no fair!" she said while turning around, after being disoriented.

We paused for a moment, to catch our breath. "You can even the score, you know," I said.

"How?" Thea asked, slightly panting ad tried her hardest hiding it.

"There is one trick a non-Force user can do with a lightsaber."

She got the hint after making a face, and a wide smile grew on her snout. I backflipped to give her some space, and welcomed her to attack me at any moment. She held the saber with its blade downwards her fist and came dashing forward into me. It was a long distance sprint but it was short measuring how fast she ran. She jumped 15 feet from me, did another twirl, brought her paws above her head along with the saber and I backflipped away while she was airborne. She hit the tarmac, stabbing it in the process and it resulted in the air around her and the saber rippled in blue color in a Shockwave. I got to my feet at a safe distance, and awed.

"That felt awesome!" she described, standing up.

"It sure looked like it," said an Irish accent.

We turned to the hangar with a gasp. It was Finlay, woken up and holding a carton of milk with his face looking exhausted and sleepy. "What the hell did I just witness?" he said.

I waved my left free hand around slowly and said to him. "What you saw was not real."

Then he repeated emotionlessly, "What I saw was not real..."

"This was nothing but a dream..." I uttered.

"This was nothing but a dream..."

"You will return to your tent and sleep..."

"I will return to my tent and sleep..." He turned around, and walked back towards the hangar and disappeared out of sight when he went around the armory.

"That was a close shave..." Thea stated.

I retracted my saber's plasma blade. "You said it... The Mind Trick always does the job."

"It sure does," a female squeak interjected.

We turned to her, and discovered that it was Pinky, standing near the trailer's ramp. She was as grey as she always was, and seemed fresh and active. "You guys had a lightsaber duel and never called me," she said. She's seen me play with the saber before, but never a duel.

"Oh, hey Pinky," I began aloud from far. "We didn't know that you were awake."

"_You _don't," Thea corrected. "She woke up with me, half an hour before you."

"Ah. You've got something for us, don't you?"

"Correct, my friend," she agreed. "Interpol sent us a mobile investigation vehicle while you guys were out, I did the work in there. Follow me."

We jogged to catch up to her as she led the way to the vehicle. She went off view until we tracked her around the trailer, and saw her approach another black Mercedes Sprinter van with the back doors open, light coming from the screens inside and coming out through the back. Professor Von Volt and Russell were in there as well, sitting on their chairs as they shared a monitor to stare at.

We climbed into the van, and Pinky sat down in her own chair in front of her own monitor beside the professor (tweaking around with Max) and Russell while Thea and I stood behind her as I held on to the backrest. On Pinky's monitor was a frozen image of gagged and tied up Patricia Hart sitting on the ground in Williams' ransom video. "We made some more enhancements in Patricia's frame," Pinky began. "The background was darkened, _so_ dark that the only thing we made out after we played around with the brightness and contrast was a hint of yellow." She zoomed it in, double-clicking on the dark spot.

"You think those eyes of yours can see better than ours?" Russell asked.

"Yes, because I can switch my vision to negative mode," I said. "If it was just white all over, I might be able to see something."

"Go ahead then, my boy," the prof urged impatiently.

I opened up my HUD and selected vision mode options, then opted for negative mode and the colors in the world seemed inverted to my eyes; white turned black and vice versa. I studied the picture carefully, looking for all details that I might find. I focused harder, and made out a window sill at the top left corner, and a corner of a wall. But nothing more told me of her location; posters, photos, logos... Nothing. But all I needed was already found when I discovered the window sill. The shape of the room was so familiar, it was like I had been there before. And that was when I finally realized.

The expression on my face changed from occupied to surprised. The others noticed that as I kept staring at the picture. "What is it, Dan?" Thea called.

"I see a window sill. I know this place..." I muttered. "This was my old room!"

"_Your _old room?" Pinky repeated.

"Yeah... My dad bought that house when we were staying in France for a few months. Then he sold it when we didn't want to live there anymore. I recognize that partial window sill. The last coat of paint it got was white."

"Where is it?"

"St Cyprien-Plage, south of France."

She minimized the editing software, then switched to a map of the city. "Cyprien-Plage, one of the cities that got taken over by The Technologist," Thea stated.

"You have a satellite feed, Pinks?" I requested.

She inputed some commands into a prompt, then the map turned into black and white with white moving dots scattered on the roads, streets, and roofs of the houses. They were standing by, with vehicles seen being deployed to outside of the area. Those were clear to us as Technologist insurgents. "French Army's been clearing the areas around the city of Technologists. So far, they've succeeded and drew some of the enemy forces to their turf so this place would be abandoned. But they are most unlikely to move out of this place because they're keeping Patricia there hostage."

"The French sent us some info, said that they're gonna launch an assault in Cyprien-Plage to retake the city," Russell told.

"So their gonna move in and clear them out while we make our way in _this _part of the city and save Patricia," I clarified. "Seems good."

"Where's your old house?" Pinky wondered.

With the command of my chip, I dropped a pin on the satellite feed onto my old house. "There," I pointed.

Pinky moved her hair to behind her back and readjusted her position on the chair to a bit more comfortable. "Okay, I can work this out, but I need help."

"Okay, do you see a weak spot anywhere in their defenses?"

She looked around for half a second and pointed at it. "There."

Thea and I made a smile grew on our faces. "That's our point of insertion..." Thea squeaked.

Pinky turned to Russell and Prof Von Volt. "Brock, you said you found something with the professor?"

Russell sat up straight and pulled his chair closer to the desk. "Right... We worked on Melanie's frame. She definitely is inside some sort of warehouse, and Williams' cameraman was generous enough to give us a large hole between her and the background. It was easier to work with, because the background was blurred, not darkened. But he did a good job at it, and the only thing we see behind her was some sort of vehicle and a blue box figure."

We looked at his screen, examining the image closely. Thea frowned and squinted, and I tilted my head for a better picture. "I see a partial logo...," Thea spotted. "Must be a cargo container."

"What about the vehicle?"

"Nope."

"Danny?"

"I'll try to enhance it a little more..." I said.

"Do yo thang..." Pinky responded.

I moved the scattered pixels around and rearranged them, and the image got sharper and sharper until it got clear. "There you go." I proudly smiled.

Prof Von Volt frowned. "That looks like a forklift. And it's large."

"That's not just any forklift," Thea said. "That's a container handler. I've seen one just like it back at the New Mouse City Harbour."

"But in France, there are only two container terminals. If this wasn't it, there would surely be no containers," the Irishman said.

"The Technologist took over Marseille-Fos Port, right?" Pinky recalled.

"Yeah?" Thea agreed.

"One of the container terminals are there."

"So that must be it," I concluded, "Marseille-Fos is where Melanie is kept."

Pinky brought out an infrared satellite feed of the port. "Looks like they're forces are focusing on one particular port."

"Which?"

"Porte 4, the place you trapped Gustav the drug dealer."

"Is there anyway to narrow our search?"

"No, but she's gotta be in one of those warehouses."

"Right, let's get our game faces on," Thea said.

* * *

**0550 hours**

It was still dark out ten minutes before six. The cold night breeze kept blowing through, and nothing lit the airbase except for a few spotlights and the row of colorful lights lined up along each side of the runway. By five in the morning, the rest were all woken up. They showered, dressed up in fresh combat camo clothing and had breakfast. And then we all gathered together for briefing beside the mobile investigation vehicle and I had a projector set up there and used the side of the van as a backdrop.

Finlay who was beside his superior, got caught yawning. "You still feel sleepy, eh Finlay?" Anderson guessed.

"Didn't sleep a wink," Finlay replied. "Had this strange dream."

"What sorta dream?"

"That kid, Danial Arif. Had a lightsaber duel with Geronimo's hot sister."

"You couldn't sleep over that?"

"Yeah. I could stop thinkin' about it. It all seemed so real."

The briefing time came. For now, Geronimo, Hussein, and Pinky will be the ones elaborating the plan to us. I understood the strategy in full detail since I was a part of the planning, but I'd thought I'd step down and let our leaders take the spotlight. "Good morning, everyone!" Geronimo greeted.

"Good morning, Agent Stilton!" The rest of us replied as a whole.

"Today, Agent Hussein and I have great news to bring to you. That's why you are all here. With the help of our tech experts, they found the locations of our next two hostages. Melanie Johnson and Patricia Hart, former FBI and former MI6 agents respectively and are also the participants of the Interpol Women's Tactical Fashion Week." Both their images popped up on the display, with Pinky behind the slide show presentation.

"Location, respectively in Porte 4 Port Marseilles-Fos, and a house in Saint Cyprien-Plage," Hussein took over. "Both places are some of the last areas needed to be liberated from The Technologists in the location's vicinity. We'll call this one, Operation Waterfront."

"Now, we're splitting this operation into two divisions as we did in Nightstrike, so listen carefully," said Geronimo. "From here, The Specters, Alpha Seven, Interpol Tac Team 1, and GIGN Task 1 will be deployed to Port Marseille-Fos. You will be transported there by air, land at Salon-de-Provence Air Base, and the French Army will redirect you to your objective by road transport along with them. Once there, you begin your insertion and you are to divide and conquer. Interpol Tac Team 2, you will take the southern side of the warehouse row and approach them from behind, assuming that there are no hostiles there. Specters and Alpha Seven are taking the middle which is in between the first and the second rows of warehouses, and, GIGN Task 1 will cover the north side."

Hussein spoke up for his part. "Next, The Crew, Alpha Six, GIGN Task 2, and Interpol Tac Team 2 will take on Cyprien-Plage. Now if we look closely to the map," Pinky maximized the map on the display, "you'll notice that the highlighted area is the total area that is still under siege of The Technologist. I know that it's a big place to retake, but be reminded. You are going to receive help from 20 French Army soldiers for this operation. So, all of you will be dropped to your insertion points along with your vehicles from a C-130 just like in Nightstrike. From there, the strategy is the same, divide and conquer. Each team will cover these streets," streets were highlighted in red, "entering them from these crossroads." Four crossroads were circled in red in the map. "Fight your way up north, and rescue Patricia Hart. Interpol Tac Team 2, you're taking the road near the beach. GIGN Task 2, the first road from the west. Alpha Six, you take the main road in the middle with French Army backup, and they'll split to this narrow street while you proceed, and last but not least, The Crew will handle the second street from the left, and proceed to the house where Hart is held captive. That's your primary objective. Once the hostage is rescued, signal it to the other teams and exfiltrate using the vans that are dropped at their landing zones. Extraction method is by air, a chopper will come to Point A or B, confirmed during the mission. Back to you, G."

"Now for weapons," Geronimo began. "This goes for both divisions. We will be combating enemies in mid to long ranges, so bring assault rifles, marksman rifles, sniper rifles, LMGs, anything that can make a confirmed kill within a thousand meters of range. Shotguns are optional, feed them with slugs for accuracy. In terms of ammunition, we need more to spare to take out massive waves of Technologist militants. So pack as much spare ammo as you can carry, as long as you are able to run. I recommend ten 60-round extended magazines for assault rifles. Snipers, carry as much as you may with you as we may need supportive fire. Heavies, attach four 100-round boxes to your belts, lesser if you think that you cannot carry, and no limits of shells for shotguns. Colette on the other paw, bring 6 extra 32-round drums. You're quite an accurate shotgun user."

Colette pumped her fist, whispering a "Yes!" in victory. I just looked at her and smirked.

"Grenade types are fragmentation, smoke, and flashbangs with 5 per person in their inventory, and ammunition type will be armor penetrating, " Geronimo continued.

Hussein spoke again. "Remember, always use your specs to indicate who is an enemy, and who's an ally. Use your scout drone to give yourselves a heads up about what's in your path, and this time, we have some military support. If you have seen the Koenigseggs parked, their targa tops are actually jets, and they carry explosives. They will be flown and dropped with you, Division One, and if a situation gets too far out of hand, I want you to signal code FUBAR to Junior Agent Arif, the owner of these autonomous cars. He will verify you and tell these cars to launch an airstrike on the designated path you marked on these tablets." Hussein held up five iPad Minis, all black in color.

Geronimo turned to Hussein to see if he wanted to say anything more, and he shook his head as a no. "That's all to cover this time, any questions?"

Violet raised her paw. "Are SMGs allowed?" she asked, being fond of close-ranged firearms.

Geronimo tisked and entered a thought, rolling his eyes up. "Not recommended, but if you think that you can hit a target in those ranges... why not?"

"Oh yeah..." Violet reacted, growing a devilish smile.

"Now go get geared up ladies and gents," Hussein emphasized. "Wheels are up in one hour."

"You are all dismissed," Geronimo added.

* * *

**0654 hours - 6 minutes before takeoff**

We walked down the tarmac to our planes, all armored up and armed with Julie's helmets worn on my mouse friends. Our urban camo clothes blended us well with the tarmac and concrete, the iPad app to mark the carpet bombs was operating well, and the comlinks were set up and sent and received radio signals fine. Carrying all that equipment and ammo would have shed us 5 kilos after this operation. Nicky updated her inventory to an LSAT LMG and Pamela switched to an M249 SAW, and both brought 4 kgs worth of ammo. Paulina was jumping with joy when she was reunited with her Barrett M107, and the others went with their usuals including me. We bid farewell to the ones stationed here in the base, and Pinky gave me another hug. As we marched, the base's runway officials and staff were busy taxiing the C-130s, some men were escorting Phantom and a few other Ghosts across our path to their aircraft as they drove along with them at jogging speed, and Finlay was eating a beef jerky strip. Once we were onboard and strapped in, we were clear for takeoff.

* * *

**15000 feet above St Cyprien-Plage **  
**0906 hours - 60 seconds till jump**

We were in the skies for about two hours. The red light flashed with the alarm sounding, and the pilot spoke through the intercom and said that we were nearing our drop zone. We unbuckled our seat belts and stood up, lined up in front of the cargo bay door, and waited as the door lowered itself down. "Masks on, ladies and gentlemen," Geronimo commanded as he made his way to the back end of the plane. Everyone put on their masks, supplying us with fresh oxygen from a small canister.

"I want everyone to give it all you've got against them, which means there will be no mercy," Geronimo squeaked through the comlink, back facing the door. "Shoot to kill on sight, we won't be taking any prisoners today. Frags are to be tossed behind enemy cover so no friendly fire occurs, and smoke will be used for cover and an alternative to mark the airstrike. Understood?"

"YES SIR!" We all replied with fighting spirit.

"Keep everyone in your team alive, and that means no one gets left behind. Good luck, troops."

The door was completely lowered down, revealing the blue sky and clouds slightly below us. Wind blew into the cargo bay and into our ears, rendering nothing audible but the wind itself violently whooshing by. The loose parts of our clothes moved to the rushing air, and made the Thea Sisters' hairs which stuck out from their helmets dance about. I felt my heart beating faster and harder, my veins rise up from my skin, and sweat ran down from my forehead. I jumped around from anxiety and cracked the joints in my neck by twisting my head around. I took steady and deep breaths to calm myself down, but Thea who stood by me noticed my behavior.

"Nervous much, Dan?" she asked.

"A little, but I'll get over it," I lied. Sort of. It was actually nerve-racking.

"That's the spirit, champ."

That was when the pilot sounded from the intercom. "Drop Zone approaching. Jump in Ten..."

I clenched my fists.

"Nine... Eight..."

Geronimo hunched down to a position to ready himself.

"Seven... Six..."

Benjamin and Pandora joined their paws and gripped each other tightly.

"Five.. Four..."

"Here we go!" Finlay said aloud in nervousness.

"Three... Two.."

Thea and I nodded to each other in confidence.

"ONE! ALLEZ! ALLEZ! GO GO GO!"

Geronimo ran two steps to the exit and leaped out first with Thea and I just behind him. The three of us were already free-falling, and soon did the rest of the airborne troops. I looked to my left, where the second plane carrying the air support squadron (Ghosts) had dropped off their cargo the same moment we jumped. "Everyone fan out and stick to your squadmates," Geronimo ordered. "Keep your radio chatter to a minimum, that way our positions won't be given away by the enemy's radio scanners."

"Roger that," responded the three other squad leaders.

But Phantom and his siblings weren't falling at the same speed as we were. They went straight down, front facing first. "Ghosts! Where are you going?" I called out.

"We can't slow down, sir!" Banshee reported. "It our aerodynamics!"

"Extend your roofjets' wings! Use their flaps to glide in the air!"

"On it, sir," they complied.

Wings extended left and right from their targa tops, and they adjusted their pitch by moving the flaps and rose back up slightly, saving them from hitting the ground at 500 kilometers an hour. "See you on the ground, Ghosts," I bid farewell.

A few moments later, the altimeter on our watches beeped at 2500 feet. It was time to deploy our parachutes. "This is it, guys! PULL! PULL! PULL!" Anderson commanded.

We pulled on our chords and the parachutes deployed. Black parachute canopies filled the skies as we made our slow decent. The chute made a really huge turbulence, it lowered my speed drastically as it pulled on me hard, giving me a harness wedgie. "Everyone approach your designated Landing Zones," I advised. The zones were some 100 meters from where the insertion points were. "Do NOT land at your insertion points, who knows how many enemy troops are there just waiting to shoot us down."

"Land on LZs, copy that," Anderson acknowledged.

"Roger," Interpol Tac Team 2 leader repeated.

"Wilco," GIGN Task 2 complied.

Our teams went our separate ways to carry out the strategy. The Crew stuck to Geronimo's lead as we were nearing the ground at 500 feet, and we could already see the devastation The Technologists caused on Cyprien-Plage. And in the midst of that devastation, we saw our LZ marked as a blue circles by the specs, and the four Ghosts, Phantom, Banshee, Ghoul, and Wraith, already on the ground, in between of abandoned and burning cars on the street. "Ghosts! You made it," I exclaimed.

"Landing wasn't an easy task though, sir," Phantom told. "Ghoul almost landed on the roof of a house until the wind blew him to the road."

Five seconds later, we touched the ground just in front of the four Koenigseggs, and we hastily took off the harnesses and clumped our chutes so no one could get tangled. All of us drew our weapons out and Geronimo squeaked, "Violet, do you see anything up ahead?"

Violet got her binoculars and scouted the area ahead through them. "I don't see any anyone, and the specs aren't highlighting any enemy forces," she observed. She lowered her binoculars then looked at Geronimo and said, "Seems like we're in the clear."

"Right. Benjamin, deploy Max." His nephew complied and brought his pet slash scout drone out, then threw up in the the air. Quickly, Max sprout out his wings and floated above us with silent hums of his rotors spinning.

"Can you see anything, Pinks?" I asked.

"I can now," she answered. "Satellite and Max cam."

"Let's move it, Crew!" Geronimo commanded.

The street was as quiet as an abandoned town overrun by zombies. Smoke was being blown by wind across the road from a burning house and limited our vision. We jogged our way around cars, debris and barricades set up by The Technologists. We even saw bodies of Technologist troops lying dead. "Be alert, Crew. Trucks are closing in on your insertion, I can't identify if they're friendly or hostile," Pinky warned.

"Affirmative," Geronimo responded.

We approached our insertion, where we heard the engine of the truck coming from around the corner. Geronimo in impulse told us to find cover to avoid being made, so we sneaked to the back of the houses and crouched behind any vehicle that wouldn't give away our position. Just as Thea lowered her tail behind a car and Max returned to Benjamin, the truck braked just in the middle of the crossroad. We heard a few people being dropped off, and they began speaking to each other in British. It was confirmed that they were definitely from the enemy faction, so we maintained a low profile.

Then the sounds of gunfire filled the atmosphere, coming from the left corner of the street. The fighting at the other street had already began. That made the troops get back on the truck and left the scene to check out where it was. After they disappeared, Geronimo signaled, "Move out."

We came out of cover, aiming down our sights just to be ready if that was actually to distract us into an ambush. Max came out and flew openly above the street and gave out a sonar beep, but nothing within the area of the sonar beep was highlighted red, only us in green. "Coast is clear, Crew," Pinky Informed.

"Roger that," Geronimo acknowledged.

We went from our hunched walk with eyes lined up with the sights to a sprint. We made for our insertion point and ran across the crossroad undetected. We entered the street and got behind cover, behind the side of the a house, cars, and the trees located at our right. Once Colette confirmed that the road ahead was empty, we marched on. We kept vigilant, getting a glimpse of the environment while shifting our eyes at random places every two seconds. We kept our aim down the sights, making the muzzle of our guns follow wherever our eyes looked at.

I lead the team in third, after Thea and Geronimo. Then I felt uneasy about something, I just didn't know what. Something that I _was_ certain of, it was a sign of danger. "Guys," I called, making a closed fist sign to everyone.

"What is it, Danny?" Thea whispered, looking back at me.

The whole of The Crew looked at me me, in fact, waiting for me to say something in a moment's silence. "Do you hear that?"

Everyone kept quiet and searched for a sound. "I can't hear anything," Trap stated. "Only the gunfight that's started in the next street."

"You're right. It's quiet... too quiet," I said. "Pinky, do you see anything from above?"

"I see nothing from the satellite feed, not even in between the houses," she reported. "Hold on, I'm taking a look with other vision modes."

"Roger that."

"In the meantime, let's keep going," said Geronimo. "And keep your eyes peeled."

We moved forward and quickly covered a few meters. Switching modes and targeting enemies should have taken Pinky just a few seconds, but she never contacted back. It was after ten seconds until I decided to get her first. "Pinky? Pinky, do you copy? Pinks? She's not responding," I said. "Someone contact her, something's wrong with my comlink."

"Pinky? Pinky, if you hear this, say something," Nicky tested. "No reply."

"Comms are out," Paulina analyzed. "Something's jamming 'em."

"So we've got no eyes besides Max, so what?" Trap talked big. "It's not we're walking into an ambush or anything, right?"

Finally, Pinky reported back after a slight static interference. "CREW, DO YOU COPY? PLEASE RESPOND!" she shouted, sounding extra tense.

"Pinky! Where were you?" Geronimo demanded.

"Our communications were jammed, I just generated an electromagnetic shield from space to counter it."

"You sound so uptight, what is it?"

"GET INTO COVER ASAP! The Technologist knew you were coming. They jammed us so I couldn't warn you about their ambush and now they're closing in on you when we were cut off!"

"CREW! GET TO COVER, DOUBLE TIME!" Geronimo commanded. We scattered, scampering to behind the nearest places we could find. "How many of them are there?"

"Ten to fifteen armed hostiles. Could be more," she detected. "Get Max to highlight them."

Benjamin heard the suggestion, and quickly considered it. "Max! Highlight," he ordered from behind a car parked at the left sidewalk.

The pet scout drone flew out of cover high and far beyond our frontline. He emitted a sonar beep, then a blue hemisphere grew as seen from the specs, as a graphic demonstration of the sonar beep. Any person hit by the beep was highlighted and outlined, and some of the ones in front of us were red. "Violet, how far are we from them?" Geronimo wondered.

She was ducking behind a car at the middle of the road. She peeped out and quickly scanned the area with her binoculars. "40 meters and closing, Geronimo," she informed.

"Positions?"

"Ten, twelve and one o'clock positions."

"Okay... Everyone stand by for my call. Once I signal, we counter the ambush."

"Me and my big mouth..." Trap uttered regretfully.

Our positions stretched out to cover the entire road; Thea, Nicky and I stacked up behind the side of a house on the right of the street, while Trap, Pamela and Violet hid behind cars on the road, and Geronimo, Benjamin, and Pandora behind the side of a house opposite of my position. Paulina entered the house Geronimo hid behind, and she went up to the balcony to get a better view of the street from elevated ground.

Thea turned her infrared vision on to see where her infrared laser module was pointing at, and then she saw some more lasers that were sweeping around the area. "I see lasers," she alerted the team. "Could be rifles, could be snipers too."

"Hold it... Trap, ready a stun grenade," Geronimo signaled.

Trap lowered his KSG and grasped the grenade on his vest, standing by to pull the pin.

We waited out a couple of ticks. "Violet, distance?" asked Geronimo.

"30 meters. Most of their eyes are exposed," she observed.

"Now, Trap!"

He pulled the safety pin and threw the flashbang with all his might. It landed a few feet in front of their cover, and everyone looked away and shut their ears to avoid the being effected (the mice agents just had to shut their ear meshes on their helmets). The grenade detonated, and when we looked back at the enemies from behind the lines, they stumbled back and had their hands held up at their eyes from being blinded by the flashbang.

"FIRE AT WILL!" Geronimo shouted.

We aimed our rifles and the morning shook to the sound of automatic gunfire. We crouched behind the line of fire collectively, trying to make each bullet count. Shots to the wall suppressed them, to the legs crippled them from moving when one tried to switch cover running, and to five heads that gave them a quick, painless death they wouldn't be crawling away from. The ground was cleared, but some were still behind and inside the buildings.

By 2 minutes after the first round left the barrel, we made more kills. I made a body shot, Thea scored a leg kill, Geronimo popped a head off a Technologist soldier, Benjamin and Pandora shared a kill, and Violet made a miraculous kill with her dual Glock 18s at a long range target.

"Good shot, _mon camarade_!" Colette praised, keeping her aim still behind the sights of her AA12 shotgun.

"Thanks! Now cover me while I reload," Violet replied. She dropped the magazines with a clank when they hit the ground, then she inserted new ones in and kept on firing.

Then came five large rounds striking the wall and the sides of the cars, one having half or one second intervals after each shot. Those were large .308 Lapua Magnums from snipers. "We've got snipers!" I warned.

Nicky tried to get a bullet at him but she couldn't get her head out without being shot. "I'm supressed, I can't shoot!" she said.

"Polly, try to counter snipe them!" Pamela proposed.

"I see 'em," she said. In a crouched position on the balcony, she looked through her scope and let the crosshairs rest on the head of the enemy sniper that aimed for Nicky. She kept a steady aim, inhaling and held it. She took a quick and decisive pull of the trigger, and his head burst from the impact of the bullet.

As the loud roar of her shot echoed off, she smiled in satisfaction, until another sniper round ricocheted off the railing of the balcony right in front of her. "Shit!" she swore, retreating into the house as more rounds strike the wall outside.

"You okay up there, Paulina?" Thea asked.

"No injuries sustained, but I'm pinned down! I'm gonna need a distraction!" she requested.

"Affirmative!" said Nicky and Pamela, our two heavy gunners. They peeped through their EoTech hybrid sights and immediately sprayed bullets upon the sniper in full auto, with some of us joining them. The sniper switched targets, and fired on us with inaccurate shots. Paulina had an advantage and used it, scoping at her enemy's head and made her Barrett thunder as the tremendous recoil pushed her shoulder back. Another Technologist sniper out, three to go.

Benjamin pulled off a daring do and took out another balcony sniper at 30 meters away in single-round bursts of his Bushmaster ACR, killing him with a direct shot to the forehead. "Enemy down," Benjamin claimed his kill.

"Nice one, Benjamin!" Geronimo said.

Paulina sniped the other two snipers with quick succession, and Trap with a hasty aim performed his first lucky kill. With the final sounds of gunfire echoing away, everyone stop shooting. "Pinky, what's our status?" I demanded.

"You guys are in the clear," she reported. "Keep going until I'll warn you about anything."

"Regroup and move out, Crew!" Geronimo signaled.

We clumped back together as a team but spread out on the road. While keeping away from fires and building debris, we ran until we stumbled upon a junction; a road branching to the left. We heard another Diesel engine revving in the distance and it grew louder as we jogged. "Heads up, truck coming your way," Pinky spotted.

Geronimo pulled the closed fist paw signal and crouched down behind a van, and as a reaction, we scattered and hid. We waited for the truck to pass by as it appeared at a curve further down the street, carrying a load of enemy militants on its bed. Some of us peeped from safety to scout (including me and Violet) while some waited for any of us (especially Violet) to make sure that they were gone.

"Is the coast clear?" Geronimo asked, looking back at Violet curiously.

"We're clear," she confirmed as the truck drove into the junction. "But if we cross the street, they might learn of our position and warn the others up front."

"Pinky, do you see another route we can take?" I asked.

"Ah! If you travel in between the houses on your right and enter the neighboring street, you can cut a little bit on your journey to the objective," she pointed out. "There'll be less hostiles there, and you'll be able to sneak past a group of 20 Technologist soldiers on the path you're currently on and avoid being ambushed again."

"Wait, I thought the plan was to retake the city," Pandora reminded.

"It was, and still is. A squad of 15 French soldiers just showed up at your insertion point to take your place. Your objective now, is to rescue Patricia Hart."

"Great! Thanks, Pinks," I said.

"Let's move out, team," Geronimo squeaked.

We headed eastbound, jumping the hedges and vaulted over fences and sneaking in the green yards. That was when Interpol Tac Team reported in. "Tac Team to Crew, we are overwhelmed!" the leader said. "We need an airstrike!"

"Roger that, Tac Team. Say the code," I replied.

"FUBAR!"

"Code received. Plot your path, a roofjet is on your way."

We heard a sonic boom coming from further down our insertion points, and saw a black roofjet soaring the sky that flew passed the target and looped back, flying over somewhat low in the next street and launched every single missile it carried. Loud explosions we heard, and red flames came up at the height higher than the houses, followed by black smoke.

"Three airstrikes remaining, use them wisely," I said.

Anyway, Colette lead us all out the abandoned properties and stopped at a gate and undid the latch, letting it swing open inwards. We lined up against the fence, waiting for Colette's go signal as she looked left and right. Once she made sure no enemies were around, she pointed her two right fingers to the left and whispered, "_Allez_..." then let the rest of the team go first and she followed somewhere behind Paulina.

It was silent as a grave, Cyprien-Plage. Our boots wouldn't make a sound as as we all scampered quietly as mice from heal to toe, sticking to each other in two groups. Not much was there to see like the other street, but this one was empty but a few stationary vehicles parked by the sidewalk.

"You've got company, twelve o'clock," Pinky alerted.

Just then, we saw two men appear from one of the houses on the left, and they stopped right in the middle of the road to have a chat. "Contact," Thea alerted, swiftly taking a place behind a van with her students.

Whereas the other five of us went for another yard on the right to hide behind the properties fence, we thought of a way to take them down without alarming any more Technologist scum in the area. "Did anybody bring suppressors?" Pamela queried.

I looked at Geronimo, Geronimo glanced at Benjamin and Pandora, and they turned to Trap who shook his head. Thea and the whole of the Thea Sisters gave a hopeful stare at Violet, because she always used her 'primary' with her muzzle silenced. "Looks like it's sniping time for me," Violet said.

Violet stored her machine pistols away and reached for her H&amp;K MP7 stuck on her back by Julie's weapon carrier presented back in Night One. She brought it over her head and in front of her, and pulled on the charging handle. She took a small step forward beyond her safe zone until her targets were viewable to her eyes and crouched, left leg forward and right leg back. She placed the extended stock on her shoulder, grasped strongly on the foldable foregrip, looked through the 3x zoom sight and lined up the green reticle with the head of one hostile distanced at 50 meters. She held a finger on the trigger and slowly pulled it back as she stabilized her aim. Like Paulina, she took the shot not a few moments too late.

The shot made a successful kill, and that startled the partner as he collapsed. But not for long, the remaining enemy troop turned and ducked for the nearest cover as Violet took the second shot and shouted for backup. "Darn! They're on to us," Violet exclaimed.

"I just jammed their comms with the chip," I assured. "They won't be calling for more backup in fifteen minutes."

"And glad they aren't," Pinky added. "Nine bogies moving into position."

Thundering sounds of gunfire and ricochets once again sent us flinching in reaction as they filled the street from the opposing side. They hit only targeted Thea and her students, so the rest of us drew fire away from them and we were the ones in their sights.

"We gotta move quick if we wanna rescue Hart!" Trap reasoned, letting off a suppressive shot.

"Danny?" Thea called. I turned to her as she looked into my eyes with full of trust. "Anyway you can use the Force?"

I held out my hand and used my powers against the enemies, and they all ceased fire in all of a sudden. "I've disabled their weapons," I stated, my hand shaking from holding back the firing pins of their weapons.

We all took a glimpse while our heads were exposed. They were dumbfounded for a second, and just threw away their L86s. They drew their pistols, but they couldn't let off any rounds either.

"What are we waiting for? Let's take 'em head on!" Pamela urged. We all nodded to her squeaks.

We ran out as we turned on our guns' safeties and holstered them on our backs. As for the Technologists soldiers, they vaulted over their cover once they saw us charging at them, and daringly dashed towards us. We carefully picked our opponents as they were just enough for ten of us. I stood by Thea as The Crew halted a few feet before the enemy troops and got into their fighting stances, and the Technologist soldiers did the same.

We glared deep into each other's eyes, squinting. Fear was never in any of us, and I could say the same for our opponents.

So the fighting began. The first move was made mostly by the enemy, and The Crew dodged their fists as they came right for their snouts. What I could witness from the brawl was random series of martial arts moves, dodges, parries, and attacks. Like some kind of gang fight with professional training.

Nicky dodged backwards thrice to a three-punch combo, warded off a jab and held an arm out to stop another, then pounded her rival in the face and jammed a spinning thrust kick into his chest to push him off. "Have a go, yer mug!" Nicky taunted with her Aussie slang.

Her opponent swung first but she moved back, and he elbowed and a three-combo punch that were avoided, and she countered her opponent by catching his fist in an attack, bashing his masked face multiple times with her knuckles, and ended with an uppercut. She finished him of by backing up a bit, and took a running start. She jumped, letting her hind paws forward while her body was horizontal, she did a kangaroo kick to the face and the Technologist soldier was down. She landed back on one paw as one leg extended the ground, resetting to her stance.

Meanwhile, Thea fought with me side by side in a 2 vs 2. We exchanged opponents every time we saw the chance. I jabbed mine in the left cheek and ducked at a swing, then pulled a one-two to his face. He was stunned and took a few steps back to recover, so I took the opportunity to switch with Thea again. I saw her already done with hers, and she saw me looking at her.

"Need some help?" she offered in a stance.

"Gimme a boost?"

She understood what I meant, shown as a smirk. "Let's do it."

She lined up beside me and we ran to the opponent. He finally shook the pain off and was in for a surprise attack. Thea locked her fingers for my foot to step on, and I jumped on it for my part. She pushed me up as I leaped, then I did a backflip kick to his chin and he flew back as I landed with a crouch.

The rest of the Thea Sisters fought three of the Technologists and took them down altogether. Pamela and Paulina made it a tag team fight, while Violet and Colette were in a 2 vs 2. Paulina finished by striking a blow into the opponents nose that knocked him out, and Violet landed a kick into the terrorist's neck, and Colette planted the heel of her boot into his face that brought him down.

Geronimo meanwhile, was the last of us to still stand and fight. Attacks were made by his rival, but every strike was blocked by his forearms held out in front of his snout. Every time his opponent would tire out, he'd retaliate with a series of blows and jabs. Currently, he's still blocking as a pair of fists tried to drive their way through. Quickly after the Technologist pulled his arm back, Geronimo in a blink of an eye sprang his knuckle right into the opponents forehead. When he saw that he was dazed, he launched a frenzy of combos in towards the enemy. They were fast and direct, and they did some damage. As a finisher, he jumped, spun, and kicked his head with all his might put into the momentum, and the Technologist soldier blacked out.

The whole of The Crew just stood and stare, taken aback.

Geronimo stood up straight from his stance and refined the position of his plate carrier and looked down upon his fallen opponent. He noticed that we were looking at him strange, and made him feel uncomfortable. "What?" he uttered, shifting his eyes towards everyone.

"That was really awesome, Uncle G!" Benjamin cheered.

"Thank you, Benjamin. Now, we better get a move on."

We left the Technologist soldiers for dead and continued forward to the end of the street. We heard more gunfire at the street we previously in, and that meant the French had already met their enemies. "Zis is French Infantry Unit 142 to Ze Crew, do you copy?" demanded a French squad commander in midst of a gunfight.

"This is The Crew, we copy," Geronimo responded.

"From here on out, you are clear until you enter ze street ze hostage is located in. We will take care of these scumbags in zis street."

"Roger that, and much obliged, over."

We reached the end of the street, and we hid behind anything until Scouts Colette and Violet gave us a green light to make a right turn and cross to the other side. Max didn't emit a sonar beep, meaning that no enemies around. Colette peered and gave an OK to Violet, in turn gave her to Colette. Geronimo then points two fingers at a direction we needed to move to, and we followed his lead.

We were all in stealth mode despite our gear making clanging sounds when we moved. We looked back, having a glance of the combat happening behind us. The Technologists never seemed to notice or care, so we carried on.

We neared the street the objective was in, but just in front of it, Pinky warned us. "Heads up, five guys from 11 and one o'clock positions," she said.

Max sonar beeped, and highlighted five armed hostiles racing to us from in between the houses. "Enemies spotted, everybody fan out!" Geronimo commanded.

As usual, I stuck with Thea behind a car, Benjamin and Pandora with Geronimo behind a low brick fence, and Trap with the Thea Sisters behind an abandoned armored SWAT truck. We heard ricochets as soon as we ducked down, but we had an advantage of Max's sonar beep. We could see the enemies through obstacles, and Violet risked herself by peeking out.

"They're hiding behind cover, I'll throw a frag to flush 'em out," Violet suggested, plucking a grenade from her vest.

"On my go, we counter," Geronimo said. "Toss it NOW!"

Violet pulled the pin with her teeth and tossed it just in front of enemy lines. They stood up and evacuated the blast radius before the frag exploded, and that was the golden moment to strike.

"FIRE!" I cued.

We retaliated and got both of them dead from a shot in the back of the head, Paulina propped her beloved Barrett up on a bipod and sniped two more, and Pandora took three shots from her Mk14 EBR to put an end to the last Technologist troop.

"Nice shot, Pandora!" Benjamin congratulated.

"You're all clear to move," Pinky announced.

"Advance, Crew!" Geronimo commanded.

We kept moving and made a left, and ran a distance of a few houses while keeping on the lookout. Then one of the squadrons radioed in. "Zis is GIGN Task Force to Ze Crew *ricochet sounds*, we are taking heavy fire from ze enemy! *explosion* We need an airstrike in our area! Code: FUBAR!"

"Copy, code received," I responded. "Roofjet is en route, hang tight."

A sonic boom signaled that a Roofjet had took the skies and roared above us as it flew low. A loud explosion coming from the right of the distance made the ground tremor, and black smoke rose as we turned our heads towards it.

"Guys, hold it right there," Pinky asked.

Geronimo pulled the paw gesture and everyone froze. "What is it, Pinky?"

"I'm picking up something, let me have a look... Oh cheese, GUYS, FIND COVER!"

"Crew, scatter!" Geronimo ordered.

We hid anywhere we could. "How many of them are there, Pinks?" I asked.

"Ten, maybe fifteen hostiles closing in from multiple directions," she reported.

"We need something specific, Pinky," Geronimo demanded.

Then we heard a loud bang that thundered in our vicinity, and then a bullet struck and got buried into the wall of a house Violet was taking cover behind. "Like that balcony sniper at our one o'clock," she said.

"Twelve, eleven and one o'clock positions!" Pinky said.

"Sky's the limit, Max!" Benjamin shouted.

Max understood the command and flew up higher and into enemy territory. He sonar beeped again, marking the locations of the enemies.

Then the hail of bullets came. Returning fire was difficult unless one of them stopped or suppressed. Thea finally had a chance and shot out of cover, soon did her students.

...Except for Violet. "Someone take care of that sniper for me, please?" she requested as another sniper round got planted into the wall.

"I'm on it," Paulina granted. She crouched and took a quick aim through her sights, and it took her not even a second to shoot. Her kill was confirmed, and she stepped back into cover.

"Thanks," Violet said.

Meanwhile, I, with Benjamin and Pandora in the middle of the road, was suppressed under heavy fire. "We're taking fire, need some assistance!" I shouted.

"Hang tight, kids! We gotcha," Thea assured. "Gunners, take 'em out!"

"Roger that!" Nicky and Pamela acknowledged. They peeped out of cover and either chose their targets carefully and shot them or sprayed to supress. Turns out, they did both.

"They're hiding, shoot the ones on the balcony!" Thea ordered, firing a bursts of rounds after.

We saw three elevated enemies at various ranges, each for us to kill. We adjusted the zoom on our ACOG sights and aimed for them afterwards. We shot them up to three times in the midsection despite the dozen stray enemy rounds hitting the panels of the car.

"Snipers are out," I reported as I reloaded.

"Ground troops left, Crew! Give them all you've got!" Geronimo motivated.

As he opened fire, something was seen thrown in front of my cover. "GRENADE!" Colette yelled.

"MOVE OUT!" I bellowed.

We got up and made a run for it. We barely made it to a safe distance from the blast radius when it exploded. The three of us turned to safety of our leader, and he and Trap cover fired for us as we recovered from the blast.

"Are you three alright?" Geronimo asked, his voice muffled and our ears ringing from the explosion.

"Yeah... we'll be fine," Pandora assured, trembled. I got to my feet crouching, so did Benjamin.

"Can things get any worse?" Trap asked rhetorically, firing of a shot over the brick fence.

"Hate to break it to you, Trap, but I see a truckload of Technologist troops and an armored combat pickup with a mounted gun coming in from the street at your left," Pinky alerted.

Max went on and highlighted the trucks. "Well, cheese..." Trap kept inserting shells into the tubular magazines of his KSG.

Then unnoticeably to us, an enemy troop appeared from the balcony of the house over our cover, about to shoot us in the back. "Guys! Watch out!" Thea warned.

Colette noticed and shot a few rounds rounds into his arm and chest with her AA-12. He stumbled backwards and bumped himself against a wall, rebounded forwards towards the railing and flipped over it, thudding face first behind us. Benjamin went to kick his gun away and instantly hit a weapon jackpot. "Oh, sweet!" he exclaimed. He holstered his rifle and picked it up and wore the sling on, then came back. "I found a Milkor MGL!"

"A 'nade launcher?" I uttered. "That's six revolving chambers! How much grenades you got?"

I didn't note the presence of a new belt slung on his shoulder. "A whole belt."

I smiled amazement. "Nice!"

Pamela spent the few last rounds she had from her first ammo box, and her LSAT LMG clicked on empty. "Here come the trucks, get ready!" Pamela squeaked, reloading a fresh ammo box.

"Benjamin, do you know how to shoot that thing?" Geronimo queried.

"I thinks so..."

Then a familiar older voice came through the comms. It was Prof Von Volt. "Grenade launcher you say?" he said.

"Yeah... Got something to tell us, Prof?" I asked.

"There is a grenade launcher aim assistant I programed into the software. Select it and it will calculate the angle you need to shoot so it will land precisely on your target. It's in the firing modes option."

Through his eyes, he blinked on his HUD to open the options, and blinked on the "GL mode". A line appeared from the launcher's barrel, and when he aimed up, the line arched. "Cool!" Benjamin uttered.

"Better ready that launcher, we're gonna need it!" Nicky stated, avoiding enemy bullets.

Benjamin got into position beside his uncle.

Then the trucks arrived on scene. One dropped off a group of eight troopers, and the combat pickup dropped off four from its truckbed. But before Benjamin could use the launcher, there was a troop stationed at the mounted turret, and the barrels of the minigun spun and whirred as it got ready to fire.

"MINIGUN! TAKE COVER!" Geronimo exclaimed.

The bullets showered upon us at 3000 rounds a minute. With the ground troops and more balcony shooters shooting at us, we had no chance of fighting back.

"We're pinned down!" I yelled.

"Should we call in an airstrike?" Colette proposed, flinching as a bullet almost struck her helmet.

"No need," I rejected. "This is what we 're gonna do. Benjamin's gonna use the launcher to destruct the pickup. I'll jam the turret's barrels, while the rest of us provide cover fire for Benjamin!"

The others seemed to acknowledge. "Ready, Crew?" Geronimo said. "Now, Danny!"

I stopped the barrels from rotating with the Force, and it rendered the turret useless. "OPEN FIRE!" I cued.

They all charged their weapons and fired back upon the enemy. "Your turn, Benjy!" I said.

He crouched down outside of cover enough for the barrel and his right eye to poke out and shouldered the launcher. He angled it and looked at the enemies vehicles to line up the lines with them. He took to shots; one that exploded at in front of the pickup, and the second directly at the pickup. It blew up in a ball of fire, and flipped backwards on its roof.

"Yes!" Benjamin shouted victoriously. He switched back to his rifle and joined the battle.

We took out seven more men yet we had more approaching. "More balcony and rooftop shooters taking position," Pinky radioed.

"Got it," Paulina responded. She aimed her Barrett a bit angled and made her rifle sing.

"Secondary ammo reserve is dry! I'm switching to primary," Violet reported. She grabbed her MP7 and began shooting.

"I'm down to five more mags, they won't hold much longer," Thea said, dropping an empty magazine.

"Take one of mine," I offered. I threw her one fresh mag, she caught it and fed it into her SCAR-L.

"Everyone switch to semi auto! Save your ammo, make every shot count!" Geronimo commanded.

That's how The Crew went, executing this strategy, covering for all our teammates. Guns got hot and fingers itched, and we fired and reloaded and fired, and still more enemy troopers came.

"More troops moving in, Crew," Pinky repeated.

The battle got more intense. Empty shells ejected and fell, new ones slid into chambers. Firing pins struck and powder lit and lead flew. All happening in a split second.

We fired in single shots or bursts, though they didn't cause an instakill. We were under heavy fire as more and more numbers came. "We're outnumbered!" I yelled.

"I suggest we retreat!" Colette said, leaning her side against the car she switched cover to.

"No!" Geronimo disagreed. "We keep fighting!"

"Guys, heads up! You've got an RPG to deal with!" Pinky informed.

From his highlighted outline, we could see where the enemy trooper pointed at from the balcony he stood at. "Colette! Get outta there, NOW!" Thea shouted.

She got up and sprinted quickly back to the brick fence. Gladly, she made it as the RPG warhead was launched and detonated at the car. It flipped in a ball of fire, burning.

I ran out to the middle of the road. "Danny!" Geronimo called out in concern.

I slid and stopped at the center, and use my Force powers to deflect bullets. Another warhead came, and I pushed it into the sky so it wouldn't hit us with splash damage.

"EITHER WE FALL BACK OR DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT RPG!" I shouted.

"Benjamin! I have more to tell about Max," Prof Von Volt cut in.

"Now might not be a good time, Prof!" Benjamin responded, shooting.

"This feature could help you! I tweaked around with his sonar beep when you were all sleeping. Max can now weaponized his sonar beep into a sonic blast capable of blowing out eardrums in a hundred meter radius."

Another warhead flew at me, getting pulled down to the earth and left a crater on the asphalt. "I suggest we use that!" I yelled, deflecting as hard as I can.

"Attention to all teams, stand down and close your ears! The Crew are deploying a loud weapon," Geronimo ordered other squads. "Everyone close your ear shutters!" All of the mice pressed a button on their heads and their ears were shut.

The third RPG I defected totaled a car. "NOW, BENJAMIN!" I signaled, closing just one ear.

"MAX, SONIC BLAST!" he said.

The drone flew over enemy territory and dropped a very loud and deep bass bomb. Car alarms sounded, glass was shattered into tiny pieces, and enemy troops were stunned as they held their ears. They dropped altogether either knocked out or dead, and instantly the gunfires stopped as echoes of the bass drop faded as it traveled away.

The whole area was ever so silent again, even at the other battlezones. I stopped from deflecting, my right ear was ringing mildly from the blast (my eardrums are reinforced, so they aren't blown), and I felt something run down at my cheek below my ringing ear.

"Is it okay to open our ears now?" Finlay asked.

"You may," Geronimo permitted. "Is everybody okay?"

"We're fine," Thea reported in behalf of her students.

"The mouselings and I are fine," Trap said.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Your ear is bleeding," Thea pointed out.

"I'll survive."

We stood up and watched the street in front of us. "Regroup and advance. Objective is 30 meters away," Geronimo said calmly. "And we may need that rocket launcher."

We went to check out the house which the RPG was used, and Paulina got dibs. She slung the RPG-7 on her back and I helped her lift a small box full of explosive rockets with the Force to our next objective.

We came to the front stoop of the house Patricia Hart was kept in. It was not that small, yet not that big. Max sonar beeped and highlighted about seven troops, and a the hostage in green. We stacked up on both sides of the front door, Violet just beside it on the right. She placed a C4 with an amount of charge made just for breaching and held the detonator. While I stood opposite of her, I knocked to some type of song and at the seventh knock, I pulled my face away and Violet thumbed the button. It blasted the door in and slammed a poor trooper standing behind it and got knocked out. We breached, shooting down five guards upon entry. We proceeded to the stairs, and Thea threw a flashbang in the hallway upstairs to blind the remaining enemies' eyes. We ran up and shot them dead, and located Hart in the master bedroom facing the road, and aided her.

While the Scouts of the Thea Sisters went to secure the house, Geronimo ripped the tape off her mouth gently as Trap cut her binds with a knife. "Patricia Hart, are you alright?" Geronimo started, and she nodded. "We're from Interpol, we're here to rescue you. Everything will be just fine, okay?" Trap then went over to the balcony while Geronimo communicates with the other teams. "This is The Crew to all teams, we have secured hostage and are awaiting extraction, over."

"Affirmative, Crew. We'll keep them busy," replied Anderson.

"Roger zat," said GIGN task leader.

"Copy," Interpol Tac Team leader responded.

"This is The Crew to Rescue Sky 1. Confirm extraction location, over," I called through the comm.

"Rescue Sky 1 to The Crew, confirm extraction at your location. Point B has been compromised," the pilot confirmed. "ETA in 10 minutes, stand by for updates."

"Affirmative, over. Ghosts, I need you guys at our location, ASAP,"

"On our way, sir," Phantom replied, the startup of his engine heard in the background.

"The cargo I packed with y'all are still with... y'all, right?"

"Uhh... Right."

"See you guys here." I dismissed, and turned to Geronimo. "Looks like we're stranded till the extraction bird arrives."

Looking like he acknowledged, he switched to Hart. "Are you hungry? Do you need any food or water?" Hart nodded weakly. "Can I get some water over here, please?!"

"Gotcha covered, G," Thea responded. She brought over a military canteen an handed it to her brother with the cap open, and he gave Hart a few gulps of water. He gave it back to Thea once she was done, and she stepped out of the room.

"Trap?" Geronimo called.

He was looking over the street near the balcony's sliding doors with Paulina and Nicky. "Yeah?" he replied.

"I know you brought a few chocolate-covered energy bars with you."

"No I don't-" Nicky who stood beside him left the grip on her M249 machine gun and nudged his side hard with her elbow. "Oof... Fine, I have 'em."

"Could you spare some for her?"

He rolled his eyes and left his post, taking out a Choco bar from a pouch on his vest. He gave it to Geronimo in disdain. "I was just saving these for the chopper ride..."

"Oh, don't be greedy, Trap. I know you've got loads of these..." Geronimo unwrapped it and fed it to Hart on the first bite, and gave the rest to finish herself. "Is the house secure?"

"Ze house is safe!" Colette shouted from downstairs. We hearted her and Violet come up from the stairs. "We scouted from downstairs, gladly nothing yet. Standing by for Pinky's alerts."

Geronimo squatted back up and met with the Scouts at the bedroom door. "Good. Any of these terrorist have any ammunition?" he asked. "My rifle's reserves are getting low and my current magazine is half empty."

"They do, but not enough for all of us," Violet reported. "Pam's downstairs helping us scavenge."

"Good. Colette, are you running low on shells?"

"Uhm..." She twisted herself to see how much was left on her waist. "Three drums should be enough for a five-minute standoff."

We heard Pamela's stomps as she emerged from the stairs, her LMG slung as she carried the vests of fallen enemies. "Eight fresh magazines on each vest, gonna do a second round with Vi and Coco," she said, showing the vests to Geronimo.

He picked up a mag and inspected it. "Might not be 60-round quad-stacks, but they'll do. Keep it up."

Pamela smiled. "C'mon, girls." The three went away and resumed scavenging.

Meanwhile, I looked out the balcony door to the left, looking for the Ghosts. I saw cars being pushed, barricades were seen flying further down the street hit by ESF, and the hums of V8s approaching. The Koenigseggs were already here. "Ghosts are here!" I chimed. I left and headed out the room.

"Are they helping to defend while the extraction birds get here?" he asked, filling the pockets of his vest.

"That, and they brought crates of ammo."

As I passed him, he froze. "How much?"

I set my foot on the first step of the staircase and halted. "Follow me... We might need Nicky too."

We three went down and outside, the four Ghosts parked themselves backwards to the house and fanned their front ends at every angle. Thea and Pamela beat us to them as they were at the living room the whole time. "You said you packed 'cargo' in the Ghosts, Danny?" Thea asked.

"Yup," I answered.

"Crates of ammunition, Agent Thea," Wraith specified. "Two in each of our cockpits." The cars' doors opened upwards and revealed the metal crates, as large as a kid's toy chest. "They contain boxes of shotgun shells, in drums, rifle and sniper cartridges, and pistol ammo."

Nicky was bending down to see the crates in the low cockpit. "Crickey..." Nicky muttered in amazement.

Thea gave me a hearty slap in the back. "You always plan ahead, eh Dan?"

So we unloaded the crates out and got them onto the house. We popped them open and all of us just came down and filled our vests with magazines and attached drums and ammo boxes to out belts. Our ammunition reserves were refilled, and we were ready to fight again.

We guarded the house inside and out. Geronimo, Trap, Thea, Benjamin and I were stationed at the front yard of the house, staying vigilant for any attacks against the house. Inside the master bedroom, Paulina, Nicky, and Pamela were out on the balcony lying down on their bellies. Paulina had her RPG in standby as she scoped north while Nicky and Pamela took turns looking through Violet's binoculars to the south. Meanwhile, Violet, Colette, and Pandora accompanied and protected Hart. It was all checking out just fine for us...

...For three minutes. "Guys, bad news," Pinky alerted.

"What's the problem, Pinky?" Geronimo asked.

"A wave of enemy troops zeroing in on your twenty northbound of your location, expect some mounted guns."

"GHOSTS! Barricade the road, NOW!" I ordered. They parked themselves parallel to each other facing north until all four of them blocked the entire road. "Prepare your turrets, this is gonna be one hell of a standoff."

As they revealed their M134 miniguns, Geronimo had some orders to bark. "Colette, Nicky, and Thea, get to the opposite house to cover the left flank!"

"Affirmative!" the three rodents said. Thea's two students vaulted over the balcony as she scampered across the street.

"Pamela and Violet! I need more shooters. Cover the right flank and aid Paulina, on the balcony or on the yard."

"Roger that," the duo responded. Violet hopped off the rail and landed on her paws and took position.

"Benjamin, Trap, and Danny? You're with me in the frontline. Get behind the Ghosts." We ran and took cover behind the car barricade, crouching. "Paulina, standby for launcher deployment."

"Got it, G," she acknowledged.

"Pandora, stay with Hart until I say we need you."

"Going nowhere, G," she said.

He shared cover with Benjamin behind Ghoul. "Pinky, time till engagement?"

"20 seconds."

"You heard her, Crew! Get ready..."

We waited in silence. We kept our aim down the straight road.

Paulina adjusted the zoom on her scope. Violet scouted ahead with her binoculars from the balcony. "Enemies are in sight, hundred meters and closing," Paulina calculated.

"We engage when they breach eighty. We can't let them damage the house and harm Hart," Geronimo responded.

Sweat was dripping from the tip of Geronimo's fur. The barrels of the turrets on the Ghosts spun, ready to feed the chain of unlimited cartridges.

Max flew out and sonar beeped, then came back. It highlighted five trucks entering the street, just sixty meters away. "Prepare to engage, they're breaching the safe distance in five..." Pinky counted down.

The trucks' superchargers whined as they were heard rolling in. "Four..."

Through the ACOG, the enemies looked furious. "Three..."

Violet kept her Glocks' aim stable. "Two..."

"One..."

"NOW!" Geronimo cued.

The Ghosts unleashed a hail of bullets from their turrets first, followed by us. The first truck swerved to the side and stopped after the windshield was cracked by thousands of rounds, after that the one behind it swerved right. The trucks barricaded the road at their side and that was their only ground cover, and they quickly got off from the back to avoid getting shot.

"Keep them cornered! We gotta defend till the extraction bird gets here!" I said.

Then the first few rounds of counter fire came and hit on our cover. They came in bursts and weren't that accurate, and it made us thought that they were meant to be suppressive. "I see a machine gunner running for a house," Paulina reported and took a snipe at a troop.

"Be alert on those houses," Thea reminded, firing in single bursts. "Enemy shooters have a vantage point there."

"Looks like one had already made it on ze balcony," Colette pointed out. "Ze machine gunner has sights on us!"

"Two gunners," Pamela corrected, keeping her rapid fire steady. "The other one is on the house at the left."

"Enemies are starting to fan out at the house yards, don't just focus your fire on those two!" Geronimo reminded.

And the bullet hailstorm showered upon us. The four of us at the middle of the road including me were the ones exposed.

"We're pinned! We need assistance!" Trap said, letting off a few hastily-aimed shots.

"You're too exposed out there! Get over to us!" Thea proposed.

"Move back to either houses! Let the Ghosts do the shooting here!" Geronimo commanded. "We need cover fire!"

"Affirmative," said Violet and Pamela. They diverted their fire to the two enemy gunners, and they were paused for a while. In between intervals, they fired in bursts.

"Move!" Geronimo said. He stood up and ran to Thea as he shot two-round bursts, while Benjamin and Trap ran back to the house Hart was in. I ran to Thea's cover, but in an instant, one of the gunners turned and shot at me. I was hit in the thigh while I was moving and it pierced the Kevlar layering in the pants.

It was the most excruciating pain I've ever felt.

I fell down backwards near Thea's cover and howled at the top of my lungs as I began to roll on my sides. "Danny!" Thea, Geronimo and Pinky called out.

I couldn't move or even squirm to safety because the wound hurt so bad. Thea risked her head when she poked it out, reached for me and then grabbed me by the vest at the shoulder strap. She then pulled me in to behind the brick wall fence while Geronimo retrieved my dropped HK416.

"JUNIOR AGENT DOWN! I REPEAT, JUNIOR AGENT DOWN!" Thea shouted into her mouthpiece.

Paulina knew what Thea indirectly ordered. "Provide supportive fire, got it!" She shot another enemy troop and made the air shake with her Barrett's loud roar.

"Danny, are you okay?!" Thea asked.

"ARGH!" I groaned loudly as a response.

"Apparently not... Can you still fight?"

"I need to get this bullet out of my leg and heal myself first... ARGH GODDAMMIT! Did it hurt this bad when you got shot?"

"I think you're just overreacting."

"*huff* Okay... *huff* okay... let me just do my thing here." Thea nodded in agreement, and held out a paw for me to grab on. I grasped it. "Crunching up the bullet's gonna hurt..." I hovered my right hand above the entry hole on my thigh and used the Force to crunch the bullet up. "Mmmpff... URRRGGGGHHHHH!"

Benjamin heard my groans of pain, and rage had taken over him. "THIS IS FOR MY TEAMMATE!" he growled, sounding like he gritted his teeth. He switched to his grenade launcher and shouldered it in a left-handed aim, then walked out of his cover daringly as time began to slow down. He pulled the trigger as he made his way across the street, launching all six explosive grenades into enemy territory. They hit the yard in front of the enemy cover at the right flank, the two personnel transport trucks, the brick wall fence at the yard at the left flank that took out most ground troops there, the wall of the house at the same flank that left a gaping hole, and took out the gunner that shot me and destroyed half the balcony length. Despite the hundreds of rounds being fired at him, miraculously none of them hit him.

He arrived at our side of the street and took cover with us. He crouched by my side and pivoted the launcher in half to reveal the chambers and wiggled the empty shells out. "Revenge best served explosive," he muttered to himself.

"Benjamin just took out fifteen out of thirty troops, guys," Pinky updated.

"They deserved it," he added, inserting grenades into the empty chambers. "Sons of tomcats..."

"Wish I could've seen it!" Pandora interrupted.

More ricochets were heard as loud bangs of gunfire grew louder. "Hate to ruin the celebration, but the other half are moving into the trenches Benjamin dug out with his launcher," Pinky squeaked.

"We need an extra shooter as Danny heals himself," Geronimo said, shooting. "Looks like you're getting some of the action after all, Pandora."

"I am?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"On my way to the yard..."

While she made her way to the yard, I was pulling out the bullet out of the wound. "D'AARRRRGGGHHH!" I wailed. The wound bulged as it made its exit, and it emerged from the hole like a parasite trying to crawl out. "*huff* Ah goddamn... Thank God, it's over..." I Force flicked the slug away as I panted.

"How're you holding up, Danny?" Pandora asked, starting to fire.

"I'm good, I'll be there in a sec!" I started to Force Heal myself.

"Take your time, we have less shooters to deal with right now," Geronimo said.

Just when the conditions were better, it worsened. "Two mounted guns preparing to deploy and engage!" Pinky alerted.

"Merde..." Colette cursed.

Max highlighted the combat pickups and they had already arrived. They halted and immediately the operators opened fire as more troops were dropped off.

"EVERYONE HIDE!" Paulina shouted, moving back into the house with Colette.

Lead flew everywhere. We were again pinned, and The Technologists were pushing forward as the pickups began to drive closer slowly. "They're advancing towards us!" Benjamin pointed out.

I was halfway through the healing process. "Ghosts, any more missiles left in reserve?!" I asked.

"Launching, sir!" Banshee acknowledged. She revealed the two HEAT missiles from under her hood and launched them. They detonated under the trucks and a ball of fire rose and flipped the trucks on their roofs. "Five targets dead, more incoming," Pinky reported.

"Rescue 1 Sky! We're getting battered here, we need assistance ASAP!" Geronimo contacted.

"Affirmative. Hang tight, ETA is three minutes," the pilot replied.

An enemy grenade launched and exploded at the next yard, ten feet beyond my cover and shot dirt onto us. "We don't have three minutes!" I shouted.

"They've gone over five meters the safe distance, you guys need block their advance," Pinky strategized.

I closed up my wound and picked my rifle up. "Ghosts, time to shoot to kill!"

Beeping came from the four Koenigseggs, then their turrets stopped firing but the barrels still spun. "Turrets are overheated, thirty seconds till cooldown," Wraith reported.

I got to my feet with Thea's help and kept my head down. "Just great..."

"We gotta take that hoard out," Nicky said, clearing a jam in her M249.

"With what? Our supportive fire is out!" Colette stressed.

"Think then!" Nicky raised her tone.

"How am I supposed to think in zis situation?!" Colette glared back at Nicky on the balcony.

"THAT'S ENOUGH YOU TWO!" Pamela snapped. She left her position and her LMG and sneaked over to Paulina while she was lying down, sniping. Pamela took the RPG without her notice, shouldered it and aimed, and pulled the trigger. The warhead flew and detonated at enemy grounds, taking the lives of seven hostiles.

Everyone out of surprise, we all looked at her. "What the...? Pam!"

"What? I had to break up the argument!" Pamela shrugged.

"Three trucks of thirty hostiles incoming from north," Pinky updated.

"Ghosts?!" I called out.

"Barrels cooled!" Phantom said. The Ghosts returned fire and took out targets. Hostile after hostile, their turrets swiveled as they racked up kills. In ten seconds, they eliminated 17 enemies.

Bullets were starting to hit on the other side of of our cover. "We've got more machine gunners!" Violet spotted, dropping her. Glock magazines as she ducked down.

Then bangs from big caliber rifles were heard in the distance. "And more snipers!" Trap added. A sniper round hit his cover.

"Paulina!" Thea signaled.

"Gimme a second to-" A dozens rounds planted themselves into the walls and concrete around her. "CHEESES!"

She wiggled herself to a crawling position and pulled herself and her Barrett back into the house as more bullets missed her. Pamela did the same.

"We can't take 'em out! We've been made!" Paulina said.

"But I can!" Pandora interrupted. On the yard, she crouched beside Violet and blasted one to two-shot bursts at each enemy her crosshairs laid on. She made her shots count, and took out six snipers with quick succession before she had to reload. "Six out, four to go."

"Thanks!" Paulina was about to get back into action as Pamela did, but she heard of something incoming from afar. "Does anyone else hear swooshing or is that just me?"

"I hear it too," Benjamin squeaked as he focused his fire on ground troops. "That couldn't be Rescue 1 Sky, could it?"

"I'll confirm," Geronimo volunteered, ducking back down from shooting. "This is The Crew to Rescue 1 Sky, are you arriving at our rendezvous?"

"Negative, we are still four clicks out," the pilot informed.

"It's not them!" Pinky confirmed. "Five Technologist Black Hawks are carrying infantry units to the battle! Approaching from your one o'clock, thirty seconds till engagement."

"Paulina! Ready the RPG!" Geronimo ordered.

"I'm kinda busy here!" She was back in her laid position, sniping the enemies in the trenches.

"I gotcha covered, Polly," Pamela backed.

Thea dropped her last empty magazine. "My gun's dry!" she announced.

"Crates are at Hart's place. Be careful!" I advised. She took off sprinting across with her Glock in full auto.

"WE'VE GOT MORE COMPANY!" Trap trembled.

Looking of in front, the helicopters were already sighted.

"Shit... Pamela!" I called for her.

"I'm coming over to you!" She hopped over the rails and ran through the crossfire with the RPG. She dropped to a slide and recovered to a crouch, and aimed it as she rested it on her shoulder. She had the enemy helicopters in her sight, and impulsively pulled the trigger. We watched the rocket flew away in a cloud of smoke, and it missed the aircraft by meters. "Guess I should've waited for it to fly a little closer..."

"How many rockets do we have left?" I asked.

"Three warheads on my belt, three rockets on my vest," she said, assembling a rocket to a warhead.

Geronimo reloaded. "Wait until it comes in range, I'll tell you when to fire," he said.

I glimpsed at an enemy RPG, ready to fire. "LOOK OUT!" I warned.

The rocket was launched, it flew for the Ghosts and Pamela was inside the blast radius. As the rocket struck and detonated at the asphalt well over behind the Ghosts, she rolled sideways with launcher and warhead still in her paws. Tar and dirt shot up and rained over our heads as we took cover from them. There was now a huge crater on the round behind my cars, and black smoke was rising up out of it.

Geronimo dropped his arms from shielding his face, and brushed the debris off of himself. "Is everyone okay?!" our leader called out.

"_LES FILS DE PUTES!_ THEY HAVE SCUFFED UP MY BEAUTIFUL FUR!" Colette screamed in rage.

"We're unharmed!" Thea responded for everyone at her side of the street.

"We need that backup, Rescue 1 Sky!" I radioed.

"Copy that, hold tight, Crew," the pilot said.

"Enemy choppers are moving in!" Pinky informed.

As we all looked, Paulina scoped at one of the aircrafts hovering on top of the houses. "They've gone fifteen meters over the safe distance, guys! This doesn't look good," she reported. "And they're dropping off snipers and and RPGs on the roofs!"

Then a sudden lead storm came upon us. More machine guns blazed, rifles fired, and snipers went off with loud bangs. We kept our heads down so none hit. "We're overwhelmed!" Trap screamed.

"Is there somehow to suppress them back down?" Geronimo asked.

"We cant! They're all over us!" I said. "The Ghosts are doing so much, they can't do more than that!"

"What about an airstrike?" Trap suggested, crawling.

"There's not much distance for the roofjets to takeoff!"

"You need to get rid of the choppers fast!" Pinky added.

Geronimo got to Pamela's side as they crouched at a low vantage point away from enemy fire. "Alright, Pamela. I want you to take out the nearest Black Hawk on the right flank. Got it?" Pamela nodded. Geronimo gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Fire when ready."

She loaded the rocket into the launcher and Geronimo walked away, his back bent. "ALL TROOPS STAND CLEAR!" she shouted a warning. She shouldered the launcher and took a quick look down the sights, then fired the rocket out into the next state. We watched it fly towards the Black Hawk, and it made a direct hit. The helicopter exploded in a ball of flames, and it went down upon the troops it just dropped.

Smoke from the exhaust port of the launcher got blown with the wind. "Good job, Pam!" Nicky congratulated.

"I don't have a clear shot on the left flank," Pamela told us, loading another rocket.

Paulina's Barrett recoiled and ejected another shell casing, a loud roar sounded in Cyprien-Plage. "I just shot one in the engine," Paulina said. "I got your back for the left side."

"Thanks, Polly."

"It's the least I could do after you took over my RPG."

"Uh guys," Benjamin interrupted. "Do you see those gunners standing by on the choppers' miniguns?"

We all took a glimpse at each of them, and there were indeed occupied an they were all facing us, both on the left and right flanks. Pinky had remembered what turrets Black Hawks had always been carrying. "Those are GAU-19s, .50 call miniguns. If they shoot, your covers won't stand a chance of stopping that hailstorm."

Geronimo wasted no time to think. "Paulina! Get Hart downstairs to safety!"

Quickly she got up and inside. "Copy!" she responded.

For a split second, danger came closer. "BARRELS ARE SPINNING!" Pandora warned.

"EVACUATE THE STREET!" Geronimo yelled, about to run like the rest of us.

We high-tailed it out of there, but the turrets had already opened fire. Hails of bullets hit the street. Dust and dirt and rocks rose up from being shot at mere centimeters behind our feet and paws as we scampered for the houses as quick as we could. Paulina and Nicky cleared the upstairs and took shelter from the lead storm, and the Ghosts had retreated at the pathways at the sides of either houses when we were under attack.

I was the last one to get in, leaping through the doorway and landed on my back. I looked back at the yard; .50 cal slugs reduced the brick wall fence to red dust and buried themselves in the grass and asphalt as I panted. "That was too close!" I uttered , Thea helping to get me on my feet.

"Is anyone hurt?" Geronimo asked. We heard the sounds of ricochets above us; bullets began to make it through the upper floor of our house.

"We're okay!" Paulina reported in.

"But they're focusing fire on our house! The upper floor walls are filled with bullet holes!" Violet told, aiding Hart.

"It's not just you girls, ours is falling apart too," Thea said. "We can't stay in this place for much longer, Geronimo."

"Crew to Rescue 1 Sky, do you copy?" I contacted. No reply came through.

"Structural integrity is decreasing. We need to move NOW," Nicky stressed.

"Through where? We can't even go outside! We're pinned!" said Geronimo.

"-to Rescue 1 Sky, do you copy?" I tried again. "Nothing."

Benjamin lent a helping paw. "Pinky, do you read? Pinky!" He shook his snout. "We've lost contact with reinforcements-"

Then a loud noise came from upstairs, making the ground shake. Dust fell from the stairwell and ricochets sounded. "They've taken out the upper wall!" Nicky exclaimed.

I remembered Ghoul retreating there. "Ghoul!"

"I'll be alright, sir!" he assured.

"There's a backdoor we can escape through!" Pamela said.

"And leave the other girls behind for dead? Not on my watch!" Geronimo insisted.

Then we heard and saw an explosion from across the street followed by a short shriek audible through our earpieces. "Paulina! Are you and the girls alright?" Geronimo asked.

"THEY'VE BLASTED THE UPPER WALL!" she reported, with crumbling rubble noises in the background.

"G, we gotta do something!" Trap urged.

"Rescue 1 Sky! Do you read?!" I tried contacting again.

"There's nothing left we can do but to wait for the extraction bird!" he thought.

"But if we stay here, we could ALL die!" Trap reasoned.

"You don't think I know that, Trap?!" Geronimo snapped under pressure, turning to him. "I think of our safety and our DAMN lives every second we've been on this operation! Now shut your yap and let me think!"

Trap was beginning to get impatient. "Then think harder!"

Tensions began to rise in the house. Geronimo went up to him and they were up in each other's snouts by then. We were suddenly quiet and every pair of eyes stared at them. Benjamin looked at his uncle in fear.

"You dare give orders to your leader?!" Geronimo said, feeling challenged.

"Because I don't see you coming up with a plan on how we're getting out of this alive!"

"What about you?! I don't see YOU coming up with anything!"

"I say we just book it across the street and fetch the girls, then get the cheese outta here!"

"Do you THINK that YOU can possibly avoid the thousands of rounds especially in this overweight body of yours?!"

"Why I OUGHTA...!"

"GUYS, STOP IT!" Pamela said, coming in between both of them before a brawl stared. "Arguing isn't our solution. It only makes matters worse."

"Pam's right," Thea supported. "We don't have time to argue." She laid a paw on his brother's shoulder. "Let it go."

Trap sank into depression. "I only told you to think harder because I KNOW you're more capable of it than I am, Geronimo. And I dare give you that order because I know you're not just my leader. You're my cousin..."

Geronimo was taken aback. He froze with his mouth open.

"You forget in every mission we've been on since we became agents that would stick together as a family!" Trap added.

"Trap, I didn't mean to-"

"Save it. What matters now is we get out of this mess alive... together." Trap pumped his shotgun.

Another explosion boomed across the street and in our earpieces, with the shrieks of the girls in the background. "GIRLS!" Thea exclaimed.

"THEY DESTROYED HALF THE FRONT WALL!" Pandora said. "We need that extraction bird here ASAP!"

"THIS IS CREW TO RESCUE 1 SKY, WE NEED IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE!" Nicky shouted into her mouthpiece.

"I can't fix our comms, we're being jammed really bad," I said.

A rocket had hit our house upstairs, sending down pieces of rubble and debris down the stairwell. "Bedroom wall's demolished!" Benjamin pointed out.

Across the street, more rubble crumbled down as heard in our earpieces. "We were almost crushed, but we are still okay!" Colette said.

"That's it, if nobody's coming to stop this shitstorm, I will," I said bravely, marching for the door before anyone could stop me.

"DANNY, DON'T GO! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!" Thea warned, reaching her arm out for me.

Not even one step out the doorway, a random rocket hit the yard a few feet where I was standing. The blast pushed me hard, and I fell on my back once again one feet away. Dirt and grass flew, and some entered the house. I was immobilized with ears ringing. Once I opened my eyes, everything I saw was blurred and my HUD glitched. I felt my hands being grabbed on and pulled me back to safety. Once my vision readjusted, I saw Benjamin and Thea who were the ones that saved me.

"Remind me not to do that again..." I moaned. I groaned in pain as they tried to get me up.

"CREW - CAN - HEAR M-" Everyone could've sworn it was Pinky's voice through our comms, interrupted by static.

"That sounded like Pinky!" Pamela said.

"Pinks, can you hear me?" Nicky tested.

"I - but signal - unclear!"

Yet another explosion heard from across the street and through the comms, followed by rumbling debris. "THEY BLEW A GAPING HOLE IN THE BOTTOM WALL!" Violet said, sounding tense like the others. "WE'RE NOT GONNA LAST MUCH LONGER!"

Thank God Banshee reversed further into the pathway.

"RESCUE 1 SKY, DO YOU COPY?!" Geronimo spoke. Only static filled his ear. "No replies!"

I was standing by the window and saw the damage done towards the house opposite of us. There was no more sidewall at the upper floor, half the wall at the bottom floor was gone, and half of the front wall had been destroyed. Then a rocket hit the asphalt at their side of the road, and made the earth tremor. The result was a part of the roof fell down and hit the upper floor. From that, half of the ceiling and the floor above was broken off from the rest of the upper floor structure, and made an inclined ramp. Dust flew everywhere.

"HALF OF OUR HOUSE IS DESTROYED! WHERE THE HELL IS RESCUE 1 SKY?!" Violet yelled in impatience.

Meanwhile, I had a short brainstorm. "I got another crazy idea..." I said to Thea.

And looked like she already knew. "Don't you dare THINK of going back out there!" she disapproved.

"We can't take anymore damage, Thea! A few hundred rounds more, both our houses will fall!"

"Fine... You're gonna deflect the rounds?"

"As many as I can... Twenty hundred rounds a minute times four is gonna be tough."

"Right... Geronimo!"

"We're with you all the way," he agreed.

"I'll go first to the middle of the street and deflect what's coming to me first. I'll start to deflect the rest, then get out when I give a signal." They all nodded. "Some will penetrate the deflection, but I'll scramble their path of flight."

I deflected some of the rounds hitting the yard before I came out, and all of the rounds headed for me were scattered everywhere else. I continued to scamper out to the middle of the road, just in front of they crater from the RPG. When I was in the enemy's sights, all fire redirected towards me, even away from the girls' house. I widened the area of where I deflected with difficulty, and it was large enough to protect the width of the street. I even deflected a rocket that bent it's path of flight so it would go above my head. I looked back at The Crew. "C'mon!"

"Danny - what are - doing?" Pinky said in disbelief.

Meanwhile, The Crew ran out and fanned out, taking their positions on the road crouching. "I figured that this was the only way, Pinks. Crew, shoot at whatever you can!" I grunted. They fired, some at the troops and others at the helicopters.

The firefight was most intense. Bullets that didn't get filtered from the deflection powers went through, but I screwed their paths. One almost went through Benjamin's skull, but it went astray of its direction and hit the asphalt instead.

A rocket was launched, and I made it avoid us. Before we knew it, there was another crater behind the current one. The ground shook again, weakening the structure of the girls' house further. A large piece of wall fell.

"We still need Rescue 1 Sky!" Nicky said.

"Rescue 1 Sky, are you there?!" I said into my mouthpiece.

Instead, a rodent responded. "Crew, do you read?!" Pinky came in through the comms crystal clear.

"Loud and clear, Pinks!" I replied.

"I amped the EMP shield, but it's still too weak to get your extraction bird. Rescue 1 Sky is ten seconds away, if you could just-" Another rocket struck the yard of a neighboring house further back. More dust and debris came down from the girls' shelter.

"RESCUE 1 SKY!" I shouted in hopelessness.

"We have arrived at your location," said a sign of help. It was the pilot.

There were more swooshing noises and they came closer, coming from the south. Then suddenly, a missile appeared out of nowhere and it shot down the closest enemy helicopter out of the air. A second one flew in not one second after then hit and destroyed the tail of another Black Hawk, making it crash and explode.

We were to stunned to keep shooting. We turned around, just in time for us to see that it was our backup in the form of six French Black Hawks. Winds from the propellors blew on us as they flew over us, and it kept blowing from one that hovered above us as it began its decent. That was our extraction craft.

Meanwhile, the other helicopters went forward to launch an assault against the other two enemy aircrafts and the ground forces. The gunners shot them down and killed a group of hostiles when it crashed on them in a fireball, and they kept shooting at the rest of the hoard until no one stood to live.

Once again, the street went quiet with no more fighting going on in our area. The Ghosts had driven out onto the yard. No more lead for me to deflect that time, and everyone was safe. Well, not exactly everyone.

"C'mon, we need to get out of here," said Geronimo.

We cleared a path into the house through all the destruction. Our flashlights turned on and illuminated the dark interior. There was still dust flying around as we looked inside. We shouted their names, and we heard a reply coming from the kitchen. The six of us came to their rescue and helped guide them out. We walked out in pairs; Benjamin with Pandora, Thea gave Violet her shoulder, Nicky had Paulina, Colette held on to Geronimo, Trap carried Hart in his arms, while Pamela and I lead us out through a jammed back door that wouldn't budge until we kicked it open.

We marched back to the front through the side pathways, and the crew chiefs of Rescue 1 Sky were lowering rope ladders at each side of the helicopter from 30 feet of altitude (landing space was scarce) for us that could climb, and reeled down a cable connected to a motorized reeler for us that couldn't. Trap got a ride up on the cable once he attached a karabiner on his belt, and carried Hart as he was lifted up. The rest of us climbed up and into the cargo area, helped by a crew chief and strapped ourselves to a seat next to the walls while some of us in fours sat by the doors with their legs hanging outside. Hart was rested on a stretcher in the middle of the cargo area and was given oxygen through a mask by a second crew chief. Safety ropes from the floor were attached to the teammates at the door and we were ready to fly.

"We ready to take the skies, Crew?" said the pilot through the comms.

"Affirmative, let's get out of here," Geronimo agreed.

The rotors spun faster, and we were gaining altitude. "Hang tight, we're en route back to Évreux-Fauville Air Base. ETA, three hours."

I informed all the other teams. "All teams, The Crew is being extracted. Hoping for you guys to join our air convoy?"

"Alpha Six is being extracted as well, we'll be right behind ya," Anderson said, with Finlay's babbling heard in the background.

"Let us move, _camarades_," said GIGN Task leader.

"Right on your six, Crew," replied Interpol Tac Team leader.

As we began to move northeast, the four other helicopters had four cables connected to four towing cables on four corners of each of the Ghosts. They were lifted up, and the helicopters escorted Rescue 1 Sky towards the airbase while carrying the four Ghosts as load. Three other groups of helicopters closed in and cruised with us as a fleet.

I sat next to Geronimo during the flight. I couldn't help notice that he kept staring Trap in guilt. He was the one occupying the space at the left door next to the gunner and Paulina, Nicky, and Colette, munching one of his packed chocolate-covered energy bars.

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**A/N: Few more to go. Stay tuned. **


	18. Chapter 18 -Be My Hero Again, Will Ya?

**A/N: What's up guys! Malaysianpro back with another chapter. I'm really sorry for the lateness, because like I've mentioned, I have a big test this year (somewhat equivalent to the American SATs) and I have been preparing like crazy for the past few months. I was actually working on Chapter 19 and wanted to publish both 18 and 19 in the same time, but for now, maybe not. So, before we get on with the chapter, I'd like to give a shoutout to Sora Pendragon again for being a wonderful writer and who's been giving ME shoutouts. So what are you guys waiting for? SCROLL DOWN!**

**Disclaimers from previous chapters and stories are also applied here.**

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**Chapter 17**

**"Be My Hero Again, Will Ya?"**

**Saturday - March 28, 2014**  
**Évreux-Fauville Air Base**  
**1425 hours**

Two and three quarter hours had ticked by. The sun warmly shone over France, lighting the day bright as it was five minutes to half past two. Our fleet of Black Hawks were inbound the airbase, approaching from southbound. Our aircrafts began their descent in front of the hangars, and the troops onboard watching the ones celebrating our return on the ground (at least the mice sitting at the doors did). The rotors swooshes started to drop a pitch as we slowly touched down.

All five choppers had landed, with the four carrying the four Ghosts detatched first. We unstrapped and disembarked, then headed for the mobile armory in groups. The Crew's members marched together side by side of each other with the other teams behind us, helmets under our arms and primaries on our backs (with exception of Paulina's Barrett). Winds from the spinning rotor blades blew at us. Meanwhile, paramedics rushed to the helicopter with an ambulance stretcher to retrieve Patricia Hart. We kept our pace although we were exhausted. Our bodies began to ache, our muscles cramped, and necks felt like they were about to break. I looked at two of our mission strategists waiting for us at the armory; Russell and Prof Von Volt. My eyes were searching for Pinky. Odd that she wasn't around; usually she'd be the first one to welcome us back.

"Mission accomplished, Crew," Russell started. An earpiece was still in his right ear. "Great to see that you've made it back."

"Good to be back, Russell," Geronimo said. We arrived at the ramp of the trailer and the rest of us climbed in except Geronimo and me. Russell gave them pats on the back, congratulating them on their way in.

"Has Division 2 returned?" I asked them.

"They have about an hour ago," the prof answered. "Their op was a success, they've retaken Porte 4 and secured Melanie Johnson. She's been taken to the airbase's infirmary."

"Cheddariffic. Injuries and casualties?" Geronimo teared the Velcro straps on his vest apart.

"Inflicted only to The Technologist troops," Russell said. "They put up a bloody fight, but nothing our forces can't handle."

Geronimo nodded in satisfaction. "Has the General Secretariat been informed about our success?"

"He has, and he seemed pleased. Ah, you don't have to think much about the post-mission, Stilton. We'll cover it all when debriefing."

Finlay's loud voice neared as he and his teammates walked by. "Welcome back, Division 1!" Russell shouted over to them. Anderson waved and Finlay shouted a "hey" at Russell. "Get to Hangar 2! There's food!"

Pamela butt in between Russell and the prof, her vest and specs off. "Did someone mention food?"

"Interpol brought over a buffet before you guys got back, why don't you and the others go get some lunch?" Russell proposed.

Pamela beamed. "Ooh! Well, I _am_ starving." She turned around and informed the others inside, "Hey guys! We've got a buffet in Hangar 2! Who's hungry?" She was the first to go, then very much everyone went after her after returning the weapons and equipment so she wouldn't finish all the food.

Benjamin, Thea and Pandora were the last mice to come out. "Are you gonna join us, Geronimo? Danny?" Thea invited.

"You three go ahead, I'll be right with you after I return my equipment," Geronimo insisted.

"I'm sticking with Geronimo, you guys go first," I said.

"See you guys there then," Benjamin concluded. I watched them walk off as Geronimo entered the armory.

The reason I stayed was because I haven't seen Pinky yet. A return from a successful mission wouldn't be valid without her celebrating, for me at least.

I shifted my head around in brief intervals, scanning the airfield for her. "Has anyone seen Pinky around?" I asked.

"That rodent friend of yours? She's been in the mobile operations unit trying to locate where the other two hostages are," Russell revealed. "She told me to call her when you got back here, which I haven't done."

I put my arms akimbo. "Which you haven't done because...?"

He wore a cheeky smile, crossed his arms and leaned back against the side of the trailer. "Just for the fun of it, what you youngsters call 'trolling' these days."

I gave a sarcastic chuckle. "Besides, didn't she hear the sound of the choppers when we were touching down?"

"Nope, she had her ears plugged in with earphones, listening to Linkin Park."

I rolled my eyes. Pinky always liked alternative rock.

"Anyway, I'm no certified psychologist, but I think Ms. Pick has a little thing for you, Danial."

My head jerked back and I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really now?"

"Pretty much, yeah..."

"How can you be so sure? Can you read minds like I do?"

"No, but I can read her behavior. She fascinates in what you're interested in, she wanted to ride with you during our transition from Interpol HQ to Paris, and she is concerned of you. She told me about how she worries about you when you went on these two rescue missions with the rest of The Crew. She fears that she won't get to see you again."

"Is that just friendship 101? What kind of friend wouldn't do all the things that you just said?"

"True, but friendships can transform into romantic relationships, specifically between a boy and a girl. Regardless of species. Look at Benjamin and Pandora for example. They've been with each other for nearly ten years I was told and both don't know they have a crush on each other. Besides, if you are able read minds, how do _you_ know that Pinky doesn't have a crush on you?"

"Because I _haven't_ read her mind. I can, I just chose not to."

"Ah, respect for other's private thoughts. How gentlemany."

I kept quiet to think about Russell's idea. Had Pinky been really keeping feelings for me all this time since we've become friends?

"Welp, good talk we had," Russell dismissed the topic. "Time to get her here." He laid a finger on his earpiece. "Pinky, Division 1 has arrived."

I heard her speak through my earpiece. "Really?" she said.

His smirk grew bigger. "Yeah... about three minutes ago..."

"RUSSELL!" She was infuriated. Russell gave out a silent chuckle.

"Okay, tell you what. You missed the whole of The Crew, but Danny's actually in front of me, waiting for you."

"You better be real this time."

"I'm serious, lass."

"I'll be right out."

I expected her to emerge from the right, and there she was. Back in her yellow hoodie sweater, scampering around the van towards me. "Danny!" she called out.

"Hey Pinky!" I greeted. My arms were open for her hug. She came in too hot, so her body slammed into mine and I almost fell backwards.

"I'm so happy that you're back," she whispered over my shoulder.

"Happy to see you to, Pinks," I replied.

She let go and held on to my shoulders. "Are you hurt? I heard you get shot."

"Pretty banged up, but I'll live. Bullet hit me in the middle of my thigh, good thing it didn't destroy my femur."

"Let me see." I stood still, showed her which leg it hit, and she crouched down and to inspect the bullet hole on my pants. "Thank Gouda the Kevlar in your pants absorbed most of the impact. This came from a five-five-six round."

"Skin there still feels irritated though."

She stood up and got hold of my face, gently turning my head. The fur on her paws fels as soft as silk. "There's blood running down from your ear. Your eardrums are blown, aren't they?"

She started to look into one of them with a flashlight that she kept in her sweater pocket. "More like just torn," I clarified, Pinky turning my head to the other side. "My eardrums are reinforced."

She turned her flashlight off, and sighed as she looked at me worried. "Glad that's all there is. I panicked when Thea reported you were shot, you know."

Hearing that was heartwarming. "Thanks for caring for me, Pinky."

"We're buds! That's what we do. So, the others and I had a breakthrough locating Charlene Evans and Julie. We could see something, we just couldn't make out what it is. But that's a topic we'll talk about later. Right now, I want you to join the rest of The Crew and eat some lunch, get showered and then relax."

"Exactly what I was planning to do. Russell and the prof helped you with locating?"

"Them, and from another person. Guess who landed here from Los Angeles two hours ago."

"Who?"

That person appeared from the van. He was six feet tall, blond with shades of white hair visible, had spectacles on, and wore a blue striped shirt, black slacks and a pair of black leather shoes. It was none other than Professor Graham Philips.

"Professor Philips!" I exclaimed.

"Hello, Danial my boy!" We embraced, my face buried into his chest. "How are you?"

"Just fine. You?"

"Never better."

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"Trap called before you lot went off for Operation Nightstrike. Built some gadgets in the past day, and brought them here. I can't tell you what they are though, it's a surprise during briefing of the next rescue op."

"Ah."

"Speaking of Trap, I sensed that he's not in a very good mood. Something wrong?"

"Geronimo snapped at him for giving him 'orders', Trap reminding him that he always forgets that they're still family when it comes to missions like these."

"Geronimo has a lot to make up for, hasn't he?"

"Mmhyeap..."

I heard footsteps of boots from the trailer. "Indeed I do," squeaked a voice. Geronimo had returned his vest and weapons. We all shifted to him. "Hello Graham."

"Gerry! Good to see you again," Prof Philips expressed. Both went for a 'handshake' and a brohug.

"Geronimo, what did you actually say when you were arguing with Trap while the comms were out?" Pinky asked.

"Ugh, don't get me started," he answered. "I got carried away being a leader again, and... I can't believe I squeaked all those hurtful words to him. Now I feel bad about myself."

"Well, how can he not forgive you? You're cousins! Just apologize and everything will be alright," Russell suggested.

Out of nowhere, Geronimo's stomach roared like a thunder in a storm. Slowly, all of us turned to him. "You must excuse me, I haven't even had heavy breakfast before we went on the op," Geronimo apologized.

"Eaten anything yet, Pinky?" I asked.

"Not yet."

"Prof Philips?"

"Famished as well," he said.

"Care to join us for lunch, Russell? Professor Von Volt?" Geronimo queried.

"I could go for some grub," Russell responded.

"As will I," said Prof Von Volt.

We strolled together towards Hangar 2, while my vest and weapons were still with me.

* * *

**1515 hours**

After lunch, a quick shower, a change into my usual casuals, and performing the Zuhr prayers with the Specters, I was back in the mobile operations unit with Russell, Professors Philips and Von Volt, Geronimo, and Pinky. Thea also decided to join in. The others had chose to take an afternoon nap in the hangar.

Pinky was on her seat in front of the computer while the rest of us gathered behind her. On the screen was a frame of the paused ransom video, stopped at the part where they showed Charlene Evans, the ex-FBI agent. Her face expression was somewhat frustrated and full of rage, maybe because they took her bionic legs away.

"Here's Charlene Evans' frame," Pinky introduced. "We had a hard time just playing with enhancements and lighting because they were filming this at night."

I looked around the picture for clues. "Try putting on the negative filter," I requested.

With a few clicks of the mouse, colors were inverted. Everything dark turned to white, and we managed to spot that Evans was actually on a bed. Behind her to her right was a window sill that overlooked a street and a building opposite of where she was.

"There's a window," Russell pointed out.

I focused hard until a frown was painted on my face. I came to realize that there was some sort of sign put up on the wall of the opposite building.

"Zoom into it and enhance, Pinks," I said.

She zoomed in about twice, and enhanced the resolution. Something was written on it in French. On the top was:

**"L'AÉRODROME de PORT AVIATION"**

"_Port Aviation_... Like I've heard of that name before," Geronimo said.

"You have," Russell clarified. "It's was an old airfield, existed since before the First World War. Interpol ran an op here with GIGN during winter. An illegal arms raid. I was undercover that time, gathering intel. The raid took place opposite of the building. Maybe you've read my file along with the mission reports."

"Where's this 'airfield' at?" Thea asked.

Pinky pulled up a satellite image of France. She input the airbase location and the airfield into a search bar get a route and hit enter. Two pins dropped; a purple pin on the airbase, and a red pin on the airfield. "It's in Essonne, Ille de France, about a hundred and forty clicks southeast of here," Pinky informed. "Three road routes, all of them are about a two-hour drive away."

"Can you get a fix on how many armed hostiles are at the site?" Geronimo asked.

Pinky zoomed into Port Aviation, and turned on thermal vision. Red arrowheads appeared on top of each hostile. "I've marked about ten, but there maybe more. Fifteen, twenty perhaps?" she estimated.

"Nothing for a ten-man squad can't handle, am I right?" Russell stated, referencing The Crew.

"I think this is a job enough just for just one person, actually," I corrected.

"What do you mean?" Thea wondered.

I turned to face Prof Philips. "Prof Philips?" I called.

"Yes, my boy?" he responded. I stared at him with a questionable look. He didn't get what I was proposing, until everyone stared at him. "What? You want ME to go on this operation?"

"Can you? I've seen you fight before. With and without lightsaber."

"Well, I certainly could, but I need ranged weapons in case I can't get to them head on."

"In that case, you'll be equipped with a pistol and an assault rifle."

"Right. When will we commence this rescue op?"

"Russell will gear you up and you'll be deployed ASAP. Russell?"

"Right. He'll be ready in about an hour, so take your time," he acknowledged. He escorted the prof out and went to the armory. "Tell me, what kind of rifles do you fancy?"

Meanwhile, we all carried on. "So, that leaves us with Julie," Geronimo said. "How many places in France that hasn't been liberated yet, Pinky?"

"Two. Charles de Gaulle and a small area in the middle of Bordeaux," she said.

"Where would they hide her in Bordeaux?" Thea questioned.

Pinky brought up the live satellite feed of the area, the seized area marked in turquoise. "There's an apartment, and a few houses surrounding it."

Then Benjamin suddenly shows up at the door, panting. "Guys... Have any of you seen Max?" he asked, out of breath.

"He's with me," Prof Von Volt assured. "I brought him in for cleaning and maintenance."

"Oh thank Gouda... I thought I left him back at Cyprien-Plage."

"Anything else, Benjamin?" Thea asked.

"There's one more. I bring you an update on the seizure of Bordeaux. The place is fully liberated. They've checked the whole area, no sign of any of the designers taken hostage."

"Well, now we can rule out Bordeaux as a suspected location," Pinky concluded. "All that's left is Charles de Gaulle."

"You guys are trying to find Julie?" Benjamin asked.

"Yeah, why?" I replied.

"Maybe Colette can help. She's on her way here when I came." He glanced out of the van for a second. "Here she is right now."

Colette appeared of where Benjamin did. "_Bonjour, _Crew_," _she greeted.

"Colette! What brings you here?" Thea squeaked.

"I could not sleep. No matter how hard I tried. And then I thought maybe I can be of assistance to all of you here. But first, I know I should have told you about zis in ze first place, so I apologize."

"Told us what?" Geronimo said.

"Okay..." She breathed in deeply. "Before Julie and Charlene was supposed to be transported to her safehouse ze day she was taken, I gave Julie a taser to use so she would protect herself."

"And how significant is this taser?" Thea asked.

"_Very _significant. Ze taser has a custom built-in tracking device in case she goes AWOL."

"Colette, how come you haven't told us about this in the first place? This would've helped us locate her much earlier!" Geronimo scolded without raising his tone.

"Ze reason I did not tell you is zat it has not been activated yet. Ze tracking device will only emit a stress signal for my phone to receive _ONLY_ when ze taser is being used."

"In this situation, The Technologists must've searched Julie and took it away," I theorized. "Chances are very little that the taser would still be with her."

Then her phone made a loud sound that resembled a sonar from a boat as it vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and glanced at the screen. Immediately her face was lit up. "Zat was ze tracking device. Oh my gosh, it had emitted ze stress signal!" She was so excited over this, she nervously laughed and wanted to cry out tears of joy. "Oh, _rendre grâce â gouda_!"

"Looks like I spoke too soon," I took back my words.

"Colette, where is she?" Geronimo demanded.

She pawed me her phone. "Here. Ze coordinates are on ze screen."

"Type this in, Pinky," I said, showing her the coordinates. She hit enter and the satellite image showed us Charles de Gaulle, and dropped a red pin on the specific spot. Colette climbed in to see.

"That's Air France's Hangar H6, where they keep their Airbus," Pinky announced. "It sits at the west of Terminal 1."

"There's our final hostage, now it's time for us to get her back," Thea declared.

"Let's see how many hostiles are on the sight," I suggested.

She typed in commands and markers dropped on a hostile one by one, like raindrops at the start of a storm. Then the marker storm got heavier and heavier and in numbers. The markers had covered the most important parts of the airport.

"Hostile count is over six hundred," Pinky estimated. "Their numbers focus at the control tower, Terminals 1 and 2A to 2D, the cargo and freight terminal, and Hangar H6. And that's just the outside. We have no idea how many are inside the buildings."

"Looks like we need some help. LOTS of help," emphasized Benjamin.

"This doesn't even look like Interpol's territory anymore," Pinky squeaked hopelessly

"Or GIGN's," Thea added.

"I beg to differ," Geronimo objected politely. "As long as there's a hostage and considering how far deep Interpol is involved in this, this situation is still in our jurisdiction. Pinky, how many soldiers do you estimate we would need to liberate the airport?"

She ran a quick mental calculation. "About five hundred troops? We may need some tanks and APCs, I'm seeing enemy Black Hawks, combat pickups, and personnel transport trucks."

"Colette, do you think you can get in touch with the high-ranking officer in the French Army again?"

"Zat is a large number of troops to request. You will have to talk to Francois Hollande himself for zat," she said.

"Why not engage in a joint operation?" Prof Von Volt proposed. "I'm sure the French Army is aiming to liberate the airport as well."

He had his phone in his paw. "Then I'll get the General Secretariat to contact Hollande," he said, getting Kobel on speed dial. "We may have to move to a military base if the troops wouldn't come here for briefing. You guys go on and come up with strategies and tactics."

"Copy that," Thea acknowledged. His brother exited the van and squeaked outside.

"So Pinks, what's our game plan?" I asked.

"Let's see..." She zoomed out to view the airport map as a whole, and red circles to entrances to the airfields appeared. "So, I thought that this op was best ran in the darkness of night. We'll have to insert somewhere where there are less troops so we won't get overwhelmed."

"How are we gonna get past enemy nightvision?" Thea said. "Get spotted, and their forces will come charging at us."

"Electronic warfare," Pinky proposed. "We scramble their electronics with EMPs and they won't be able to see a thing."

"And what if they spot us anyway? There are bound to be snipers keeping watch over ze north and south runways," Colette assumed.

"A diversion skirmish. Place teams to some points with less Technologist troops. They'll be sure to call backup, an that'll drive some of their forces out from the focused areas. Then we'll have no problem dealing with them with their reduced numbers. Though, being spotted is inevitable."

"I heard the French Air Force is going to support the retake by launching airstrikes with their jets," Prof Von Volt informed. "Can this be implemented?"

"Sadly no. The fighting distance between two factions are jut about 30-70 meters. Get close enough to the blast radius of those air-to-ground missiles, you'll get caught in friendly fire. The lightest injury it can conflict to you is shrapnel to your skin and blown eardrums. Even if they're just low-explosive cluster bombs."

"Roofjets will do the job," I said. "They can fly under thirty meters, and the rockets they come with won't spray any shrapnel."

"How scattered are the hostiles and where do they patrol?" Thea queried.

"They're about ten to fifteen meters of each other in one area, standing guard at the Tarmac near the buildings. At Terminals 1 and 2, they don't patrol farther than the tarmac near the gates. There are troops doing rounds at the cargo and freight terminals, but they don't go as farther out of the tarmacs either."

"Where are the snipers stationed?" I asked.

"Rooftops mostly."

"Right. Estimated number of troops needed to execute your plan?"

"I have to recalculate since the troops outside aren't scattered not too far. I'm using the same hostile density for the troops inside." She stared at the screen as she quickly ran the figures in her mind. "Five, six hundred plus?"

"I'm sure G could get us that many troops," said Thea.

"With luck, maybe more NATO countries will offer their assistance," the prof predicted. "We may have more troops than we requested for."

"So Pinky, how are we going to get Julie back and liberate Charles de Gaulle?" I said.

"Glad you asked..." she replied. "Alright, this is how we're gonna do it..."

* * *

We had concluded the strategizing session after half an hour. Her plan was so brilliant, it had room for an elimination of all Technologist hostiles taking over de Gaulle.

Geronimo had ended his discussion with Kobel at the same time, and he reentered end the van.

"So, how's that plan coming?" Geronimo said, everyone turning to him.

"We just finished," Thea replied. "And one heck of a plan it is. We have time to completely eliminate every Technologist militant. It'll be dawn by then. I think."

"Sounds like an excellent plan! Brief me later about it, Danny and I will have to brief Professor Philips for his rescue op for now."

"How many soldiers are the French Army gonna deploy?" I asked.

"I heard that Pinky needed over five hundred, but the numbers fell a bit short. Their deploying three hundred and fifty paratroopers, including a hundred FÉLIN division soldiers."

Everyone sighed in disappointment.

"But the good news is that several other NATO countries had offered their help," he added. Quickly, we became intrigued.

"Nice! How many people?" I asked.

"The German Bundeswehr are sending a hundred and fifty soldiers, the Italians are deploying fifty, the Canadians sent another hundred, the Belgian Army with sixty, and the British Army lent us forty of their best. They'll all be arriving here at six o'clock."

"That tallies up to seven hundred and fifty men," Thea estimated.

"With the existing Interpol, GIGN, French and Irish teams, totals up to eight hundred," Prof Von Volt said.

"How many tanks do we have?" Pinky asked.

"A sum of seventy-five French Army tanks, they're on their way to the airport as we squeak."

Colette's iPhone chimed a ringtone again to a text. She glanced the screen and read it. "Zat was Nicky," she informed. "Ze team she requested from ze Australian Army has arrived at ze front gate. You have to authorize their entry to ze airbase, Geronimo."

"I'll be right back," he said, stepping out.

After the fifty Australians were let in (more than Nicky had asked for) and were directed to the hangar where the other troops were until further orders (that took about 20 minutes), we briefed Geronimo on the plan.

"This is a good plan, I must say. But, wouldn't it be overkill to blow a hole in the roof of the hangar just to extract us and Julie into the rescue chopper?" he questioned.

"That's our backup plan if they cornered us front and back," Thea said. "But let's face it, Geronimo. Overkill is underrated."

"I'll have to pitch in with the General of the French Army regarding this. Very likely he'll approve, but we'll see."

"Australians brought their own arms?" I asked.

"Weapons and standard Australian Army equipment, but they didn't bring enough ammunition."

"Speaking of ammunition, our mobile armory's running dry. We only have enough for quarter the number of our troops," Pinky explained.

"I'll contact Interpol and get them to send some more. We need to standardize all troops' ammo magazines to extended ones."

A shout from outside the van came thundering in the van. "Stilton! Prof Philips is all suited up," Russell shouted. "You're needed to brief him about the rescue."

"C'mon Danny," Geronimo invited.

Once outside, our jaws dropped in awe to see Prof Philips in his combat attire.

"...My God," I whispered in admiration.

He wore the combat specs for eyewear and had an earpiece plugged in his ear with a mic near his mouth. He was wearing a mild-dark urban camo, long-sleeved shirt and Crye G3 combat trousers with integrated kneepads that tucked under his black boots. He wore a plate carrier that covered his whole midsection and back, and over it was a chest rig that held his eight spare primary magazines, knife, iPhone 5S with a Juggernaut case and a flip-down chest mount, and radio receiver and transmitter. On his shoulders were shoulder pads that connected to his shoulder straps by bands of sewing elastic, and on his forearms were magazine pouches that carried three primary magazines each. Grey tactical gloves with knuckle pads fitted his hands. His belt had pouches that carried concussion grenades and a medkit, and had a d-link chain connected to his lightsaber beside the buckle. A holster tied to his right thigh kept his Glock 17 as the ammo pouches on his left thigh carried the sidearm mags. He carried an ACR Tactical as his primary.

"How do I look?" asked the professor.

"Like a soldier," Geronimo described.

"It's like I'm staring at death in the face when you're in that, prof," I added.

His smile grew wider. "Well, in that case, looks like I won't be needing this rifle because it seems that my looks can already kill," he punned.

"Oh-ho-ho, dayum son! That was a good one!"

"So, what's the plan Geronimo?"

"We get you Essonne. You'll be inserted at a distance, but make sure you make yourself spotted. When The Technologists attack, retaliate and eliminate them on sight. You'll make your way to the house Charlene Evans is kept hostage, secure her, extract her, and then get her out of there," he briefed.

"Understood," the prof acknowledged.

"Get to one of my cars. I'll have Pierre and Colette to escort you," I said.

"Colette? One of Thea's students?"

"No, Bugatti Colette. I seriously gotta rename her..."

"We'll guide you through the mission from here. Should you be overwhelmed, the Bugattis assigned will back you up," Geronimo stated, then the prof nodded. "Graham Philips, I hereby deputize you as an Interpol agent for this mission."

"I'm honored," the prof replied.

"Good luck, and may The Force be with you."

With a nod, Russell, Geronimo, and I watched him march off to Valkyrie. "I'm gonna have a lot of paperwork to do after this, aren't I?" said Geronimo.

"Mmm-hmm," Russell grunted.

"Yup," I agreed. "So, how does Veyronica sound for a replacement?"

"Why haven't you thought of that before? It's perfect!" Geronimo supported.

"I've got no arguments about that," Russell said. I smiled in satisfaction as the three cars rolled out.

The cars had gotten out of the gates by then. "Get into gear. We'll leave for the airport before midnight," Geronimo said.

* * *

**Essonne, Ille-de-France**  
**1721 hours**

Geronimo and I were back in the van in front of a computer screen next to Pinky. Geronimo as a leader, was the main guide. We had changed into our combat uniforms, and we were guiding Professor Philips as he was closing in 100 meters from the objective. From his eyes, the scene was like an aftermath of a long skirmish; with the light to mild destruction of houses with cars that looked drivable but had bulletholes on their body panels and shattered windows, all parked on the roadside.

"Almost there, Crew," the prof said.

"Take a left, then head straight. The Technologist troops standing guard about sixty meters from there," Geronimo directed.

The three cars made a right and headed south, then drove slowly for another 30 meters. "I'm spotted, should I walk from here?" asked the prof.

"Affirmative."

From the camera of the specs located at the bridge of the nose, we saw everything in first person. He got out of Valkyrie, and he marched forward with his weapon drawn out. The cars moved with him steadily.

The line of militants standing guard stared in suspicion near a barricade of SUVs and armored Terradyne Gurkhas. "Who the hell is that?" said one of them.

Prof Philips stowed his rifle away and got his lightsaber.

"Shoot him down," ordered another militant.

The professor broke into a run, making the guards panic.

"FIRE!" shouted the same guard. All six opened fire at him. He held out his left hand and deflected the rounds away as he charged towards them. He Force Jumped, the shooters aim locked on him, then he Force Pushed to send the six, the SUVs and the huge Gurkhas away. They were all knocked out.

He landed on his feet where they stood. He felt no need for him to use his lightsaber for now, so he clipped it back on his belt and drew out his ACR.

"Good kill, prof," I commented.

"Indeed." He advanced forward down Rue de Barrage. "I can sense them nearing me."

"Five bogies incoming, multiple directions," Geronimo alerted.

"Roger that..." He retreated behind one of the flipped Gurkas at one side of the road as the terrorists spawned. Sounds of gunfire shook the air.

He got ready to switch cover to a flipped BMW X6 M the the other side. When there was a pause in the shooting, he tread out and fired in bursts that killed two enemies. Behind the new cover, he shot the three others in quick succession.

"You're clear to move until the end of the street," said Geronimo.

"Copy that," replied the prof.

He made a few paces with the cars tailing close behind him. "Seems rather quiet here, isn't it?" the prof observed, just to make conversation.

"It won't be in a few moments," I said.

He made it to the end of the street. "Get to cover," Geronimo commanded.

The prof scampered to behind an abandoned parked sedan. "How many are there?" he asked.

"Make a right, you'll see a hostile alerted of your presence. Along the road until the objective."

"Copy." He peeped out with no sudden movements aiming the muzzle of his rifle at the head of the enemy troop. One shot was all it took to drop him, and one shot was all it took to make the other nearby militants aware of his presence.

"Move in to behind the car," I said.

He quickly turned right into the street and crouched behind another parked car. The Technologists spotted him, and another shootout began.

The prof sprayed the last few rounds to empty his magazine and suppress the enemies down. With a quick reload, he was back in action and shot down two enemy troops, allowing him to advance to new cover.

"Follow him closely, cars," I advised.

The professor ducked behind a cement barrier and waited for the right moment. He lifted the rifle over his head and pulled the trigger to suppress them. He took out three more troops moved forward to another place to take cover. The objective was no more than five meters.

"Almost there, prof," I told. "_Port Aviation _is on your right, the house is on your side of the street."

"Affirmative," he acknowledged. He reloaded and killed the final three Technologist terrorists on the street, then proceeded to breech the house Charlene Evans was kept hostage.

"Were you packed with breaching C4 before you set off on this mission?" I asked.

The prof was walking up to the doorstep. "I wasn't. Gladly there's an alternative." He got his lightsaber and turned the blue blade on. He stabbed the door at the left edge and cut the hinges and locks, then around the doorsill. He kicked the door down, seeing 4 troops surrounding the entrance and taking aim upon entry.

"DROP THE SABER, NOW!" a British militant yelled an order.

"Seems that I'm in a bit of a standoff here," said the prof collectively.

He stood there, shifting his eyes at every single one of them. "You can take 'em, prof," I motivated.

Tensions were high. His nerves popped out on his skin. Sweat streamed down his forehead. His lightsaber's hum filled his ears.

He Force Pushed the two at his left, sliced the weapons of the other two at his right followed by an upwards slash delivered to the body of one militant, turned to the next, and pierced his heart with his saber in an upside-down grip. He turned his saber off and let the lifeless body thud on the ground.

"Good work!" Geronimo praised. "Now clear the bottom floor and proceed upstairs."

All it took was a wave of a hand to sense anymore hostiles. "Bottom floor is clear, moving upstairs."

He climbed up, and used the Force to lead him to where Evans was. All of the rooms' doors were open so he briefly checked them out and made sure they were cleared. Then he heard banging from a closed room and went to investigate. As he got closer, he heard a woman swear after another bang on the door.

He knocked. "Charlene Evans! Are you in there?" he shouted.

"LET ME OUT YOU BRITISH SCUMBAG!" she demanded imperiously.

His British accent made her thought he was one of The Technologists. "I'm not one of them! I'm Interpol Deputy Agent Graham Philips, I'm here to rescue you!"

"They've sealed the window and the door's locked! I'm trying to kick it open," she said.

He gave the knob a twist. "Indeed it is... Miss Evans, I need you to stand away from the door. I'll try kicking inside."

He took a step back and slammed his right sole on the door in a thrust kick, and the door swung open. He saw Evans in a blue tattered dress, had a cut on her cheek and bruises on her face and dried blood trailed down from her forehead from when they subdued her. She had been kicking the door using her bionic hydraulic legs.

"Geronimo, I've got the hostage," The prof reported in. He approached her to examine her injuries. "Are you hurt or injured?" he asked.

"Minor cuts and bruises, I'll be fine. But the hydraulic dampeners of my left leg's leaking fluid from kicking, I won't feel comfortable walking when the other leg sinks down."

"Right... Hold on to my neck." Evans wrapped her right arm around Prof Philips' neck. "C'mon, let's get you out of here."

By then the sun shone on them as they were out of the house. "Geronimo, I'm extracting the hostage. Is our twenty clear?" the prof asked.

"Nothing around you. Once you're out, get her back to base safely for further treatment," he instructed.

"Copy that, over."

They kept walking towards the cars. "You came here alone?"

"If you didn't count the autonomous AI cars, yes."

"And you took them all out? By yourself?"

"I did."

Brief silence filled the neighborhood. "How long have you become an Interpol agent to get this good?"

The Prof smiled. "I... was actually just deputized before I embarked on this rescue op. I'm actually a professor giving lectures to students at Caltech. They thought I was good of this sort of thing, so they chose me."

Evans nodded, mouthing an 'oh'. "What were you before that?"

"In my youth, I served the British Army. Price of Wales' Royal Regiment, first battalion. Had my fair shares of action, got honorably discharged after two years of service because I lost my right leg to an IED. Pity. At the same time, I lost my wife in a car accident."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. And the leg you're using now is a prosthetic?"

"On the contrary, it's a cybernetic I developed on my own; made of carbon fiber and are neurologically controlled. Hydraulics and actuators take the roll of the muscles to move the feet, everything covered in a hard carbon fiber shell wrapped in an artificial human skin."

"Wow... sounds expensive."

"Well, not really. Took only two thousand dollars to make a pair."

She nodded again. "Hey, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Be my hero again, will ya?"

The prof could only smile and blush. "Of course..." he said.

They got to Pierre and the prof opened the passenger-side door. "And about those legs... you think you can make a pair for me?"

Prof Philips was already at the other side. "Might as well gift them to you, I've got spares."

They got in and Pierre fired up the engine, then the convoy drove away.


	19. Chapter 19: Opération Libérées Ailes

**A/N: What is up guys? My name is (now) DrifterDan, and welcome to another chapter of Trouble in France! Again, I am REALLY sorry for the long, LONG hiatus. The past few months I spent were solely on school for the final exams, and I aced it! Hooray for me! Also, since I've finished school, I've been trying to adapt to adulthood now. I got a job at a tutoring center with decent pay, and I'm trying to look for any colleges or universities at the moment. Again, I'm SO sorry for the delay. Oh, before you read the chapter, I suggest that you find two hours for yourself (maybe more) because it's almost 30,000 words long. Yes, you read it right. Now, without further adieu, This is ****Opération Libérées Ailes. Enjoy!**

**P.S. And a MASSIVE shout out to my friend Sora Pendragon who's been exchanging ideas and writing in this fandom with me. Thanks bro!**

**Disclaimers from past stories and/or chapters will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**Opération Libérées Ailes**

**Évreux-Fauville ****Air Base**  
**2005 hours**

Rush hour hit the airbase as the moon rose from the skyline, surrounded by hundreds of twinkling stars. The existing teams were moved to make preparations for the retake as the soldiers arrived in a fleet of French APCs while the other NATO countries' soldiers rolled in Gurkhas through the airbase entrance. The Specters and I had done another prayer, seeking victory from Allah in our next rescue op.

The supervisor of the troops would be a French Army Colonel. He himself paid Geronimo a visit at the mobile operations unit while the rest of us were in the armory.

"Agent Stilton," the colonel greeted.

"Colonel, sir! I've been meaning to meet you," said Geronimo.

"Likewise. I have been briefed about ze strategy your team came up with by ze General Secretariat of Interpol. Your plan is good, and I can agree with zat."

"_Merci_, sir."

"I will see you during briefing." As the general left to attend his troops, Pinky radioed him through a walkie talkie.

"Geronimo, ammo and arms transport trucks are here. Signal the guards to let them in," she told.

He snatched the walkie talkie from his belt. "Roger that, Pinky. Guards, the trucks are Interpol's. Let them in."

Just then, Thea and I had came out after getting our plate carriers to join him. He looked busy as usual.

"Hey," Thea squeaked from behind him.

"Hey," he replied. "You two all locked and loaded?"

"Yeah, sort of," I answered. "All we need now are Prof Philips' surprise tech."

"Speaking of which, here he comes now," Thea pointed her snout to the approaching black and orange Bugatti with Valkyrie and Veyronica tailing behind.

They stopped on front of us and the prof of came out at the driver's side. "Mission successful, Crew!" he said. He rushed to the passenger side as the door flung open.

"We knew you could do it, Prof!" I congratulated.

"Why, thank you, Danial!" He bent down to attend who appeared to be Evans. "Can we get a stretcher over here? Miss Evans can't walk, one of her leg is on the fritz."

Geronimo neared his mouth to the walkie talkie. "This is Agent Geronimo Stilton to the infirmary, could you send someone over with a stretcher?" With a quick reply, he ended the transmission.

"Stay put, paramedics are on the way to get you," Prof Philips said to Evans. He got up and went to us. "Right. I need The Crew to come with me, Thea Sisters and Specters included."

"Where to?" Thea queried.

"The surprise tech."

We rounded up the others who were already in their vests, and we followed the Prof into one of the hangars. It was lit brightly inside, and instead of a plane, in its place were several wooden crates arranged in three long rows. "These will be vital in executing your battle strategy for your retake," he stated, with us walking fast towards the crates.

"What're inside these, specifically?" Hussein asked.

"You'll find out..." He grabbed a crowbar sitting next to one of the crates of the first row on a wooden cargo pallet and began to un-crate. We peered inside for its contents. "These are all iPhones equipped with with Juggernaut casings and mounts to the plate carrier just like the one have on my vest. These are programmed with an app and are connected to the signal jammers in the last row of crates. Can also be used to mark the airstrikes. One of these for each Gurkha."

We followed him to the second row where he immediately wedged open another crate. Prof Philips took out a sample of the product, still in its packaging. "These are Danny's combat eyewear that Professor Von Volt upgraded. There are about nine hundred of these. One soldier each."

We tailed him to the next row and he opened a crate. "There are more of these scout drones than you think, they're just about smaller and compact than Professor Von Volt's design."

He had opened another crate from another row and got his hands on a sample of the big toy. "This is an Unmanned Aerial Assault Drone. Equipped with a turret chambered in 5.56 NATO. Useful for fighting when you're behind cover. Controlled remotely by the iPhones. One squad each."

He wedged open another crate from the final row. "They're the comms of CTs, signal jammers and portable EMP generators. The jammers will disable electronics and scramble comms of enemies which are highlighted via the iPhones. Our comms won't be affected because they have special micro-Faraday cages built around the modulator and the antenna. One armored car each."

"Alright Crew, get these equipment unpacked and distributed," ordered Geronimo.

"There are more crowbars at the iPhone crates and trolleys at the back," the prof informed. They all scattered as I was held back by the prof. "I've fetched you something from Malaysia before I flew here."

He reached into his pants pocket and took out what it appeared to be my cloner. He handed it to me. "Thanks prof," I uttered, inspecting the device.

"Just in case you don't have enough ammo," he said.

* * *

**2020 hours**

After passing the tech around to each armored vehicle, we were called to assemble at the side of the mobile armory for briefing. Teamwork helped us save energy, but it was still tiresome.

Geronimo stepped to the front with the Colonel as a projection of the plan's presentation shone on the side of the trailer - they were the one to handle the briefing.

"_Bonsoir, soldeurs," _started the French Colonel. "Tonight, we are all gathered here for a briefing of a joint rescue mission. Agent Geronimo Stilton will inform you of ze details of ze situation. Agent Stilton?"

"Thank you, Colonel. Good evening soldiers," he solemnly greeted. "I, on behalf of Interpol and the French Army have called you all here because we require your assistance. As you all may know, the designers of Interpol's Tactical Fashion Week were abducted and held hostage by The Technologists. As of now, all of them have been rescued except for one."

Pinky presented the next slide in; an infobox of Julie and her biodata. "This is Julie, one of the designers competing. She was captured during her transport from her hotel to her safehouse. Recently this evening at fifteen-twenty hours, she was located when a stress signal was emitted from a taser one of our agents gave her as means of self protection. We tracked her down with these coordinates, that lead us here..." A map of Charles de Gaulle was shown with a pin dropped on the hangar.

"Air France's Hangar H6 in Charles de Gaulle," the Colonel took over. "Ze final area zat has not been liberated from Ze Technologists' control. We intend to do zat in ze operation you are going to be briefed for, so listen carefully." Five places of the airport were highlighted in red.

"Their numbers span from three hundred to seven hundred. Most of them are found in Terminal 1 and 2A to 2D, ze Freight Terminals, ze control tower, Hangar H6 itself, and while ze others hidden in ze underground levels namely ze metro lines. Troops appear to be scattered not too far from each other on ze tarmacs, snipers keep watch over ze airport on ze roofs and inside ze terminals near ze windows, and enemy patrol units only roll out to ze farthest parts of ze tarmacs. Of course we outnumber them, but NEVER underestimate your enemies. They use advanced and modern weapons, and they even have their own fleet of Black Hawks, ready to be deployed from ze west end of Terminal 2."

"So in order to counter all their forces and overwhelm them, this is what my team had come up with. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to _Opération Libérées Ailes, _orOperation LiberatedWings."

The next slide had arrows pointing west on a road in between the north runways and Terminal 2 itself.

"As far as I'm told, all of you are already split into squads of ten. So, I will assign you to your groups accordingly. Anyway, this is how we execute our insertion phase," Geronimo squeaked. "This is the route for the Northern Company. We approach the airport from the southwest. I need five hundred soldiers with me; that will include three SAS teams, five of the French FÉLIN teams and 21 people from my team. Some of our assets will be tagging along; you've probably seen the supercars parked somewhere on the tarmac, and they are here to provide support. They are modified and equipped with military-grade weaponry; they have popup turrets which will assist us and provide cover fire. Nine of these cars will be deployed with us. Now, to avoid detection from snipers, get off the autoroutes at this interchange and use the backroads, circling the north runways from the west. The autonomous cars will camouflage themselves black to blend with darkness. A designated Red Zone will be established within a five-kilometer radius of the airport, that means there will be no headlights when we enter it so we have to use nightvision. As you near the airfield, there will be French tanks lined up along the road before a roundabout, just behind a thick line of tall hedge trees. They will redirect you on where to go. At this point, the three SAS teams will split from the company and continue further down the road until you approach Terminal 2G along with four cars. This is marked as Objective 1. The others will enter the airport grounds and into Rue de New York; this will be marked as Sniper Towers. Stop at this roundabout and get off when you've reached the buildings on your left. Snipers will make their way on foot to these buildings; the Air France Head Office buildings, Hotel Novotel, the Hilton hotel, these office buildings and then enter them. Navigate to the top floor windows facing to Terminals 1, 2 and the control tower. Await for the next phase at that point."

Then another route was displayed, replacing the Northern Company's route.

"Meanwhile, ze other four hundred soldiers including myself will follow zis route infiltrate ze airport from ze south fences including another five FÉLIN teams," said the Colonel. "Another eight of ze autonomous cars will be coming with this division. Zis division will split up from ze rest at ze same interchange, but you will take a right turn instead of left. You will have ze cargo terminals on your left as you keep moving east, and as you reach a second roundabout, there will be a group of friendly tanks. Zat is the checkpoint to drop off some two hundred men including one FÉLIN team and four cars. Zis is marked as Objective 2. Ground troops standby behind ze Chronopost warehouses as snipers climb ze roofs and take position. Ze rest will then move on to _Route Périphérique Sud_ marked as Objective 3, parallel to ze south runways where there will be another group of French tanks waiting for you. Spread your sniper units along ze stretch of ze road on top of zis small hill, and then wait for the next phase to initiate."

"Now, time for the assault phase," Geronimo squeaked. "Three SAS teams that will be sent to Objective 1 will become the skirmishers. This skirmish will act as a diversion so that we drive some of their forces to this area so that the focused areas become less difficult to retake. We discovered that this objective has the lowest hostile count with 60 militants on site, so this shouldn't be that difficult. The platoon will receive some help from a few tanks and the four cars to provide support and cover."

"For our next phase, we will make our entry onto ze battlefield," said the Colonel. "To make sure zat we do not get spotted by enemy nightvision and thermal optics as well as our messages getting intercepted by enemy radio scanners, Junior Special Agent Danial Arif of Interpol will deliver a direct EMP charge on ze enemy electronics including radio scanners and special optics. Then, spotters and scouts will accompany snipers to spot, mark, and highlight enemy snipers. Northern Company snipers, your targets are the enemy snipers of Terminals 2B and 2D, ze control tower and Terminal 1. Southern Company, your snipers will target Terminals 2A and 2C, as well as ze north and west cargo terminals. Once your targets are marked and highlighted, take aim and standby for ze call to fire from Agent Stilton as ze Skirmishers make their way to their objective. Then once the skirmish starts, Agent Stilton will signal all the snipers to fire."

"After every enemy sniper is shot, that's when we start the assault phase," Geronimo instructed. "Southern Company will breach the fences and roll into the airfield with the tanks to Terminal 2 marked as Objective 4 westwards and the freight terminal northwards. Northern Company snipers will have to scale down from the buildings for a rapid deployment. Some two hundred eighty soldiers will make their way to Objective 4 and begin fighting. The rest continue west to take on the control tower and Terminal 1. They'll be respectively marked as Objective 5 and 6. The assault phase lasts until every Technologist militant is eliminated on all areas. Meanwhile, the the other teams including mine will advance to take Objective 7 and assault the guards there while my team rescues the hostage inside. This will trigger the enemy forces to call in support from the forces at Terminal 2, including the choppers. While my team and I are inside, the teams outside will stand guard and defend the hangar from incoming waves of troops. Once I report that my team has the hostage secured, finish off the last of the enemy troops and exfiltrate. Is that clear?"

"YES SIR!"

"For weapons, I want a balance of damage delivery, ammo capacity, range, accuracy, and mobility. Guns that are capable of suppressing enemies and provide supportive fire, accurate, mid-to-long-ranged, light, and packs a punch. One squad will have two snipers, two heavy gunners, two riflemen and two scouts. Bring RPGs, the gunners will carry them. The choice is yours; we have some mobile armories full of firearms, so go nuts. Snipers, the start of the assault phase requires you to shoot at targets ranging up to one and a half kilometers. You are needed to carry .50 caliber rifles for maximum effective range. The SAS Skirmishers, you'll need more machine guns than rifles. Bring as MUCH ammunition as you can, just as long you're able to run. We don't know how long this fight will last. Smoke, flashbang and high-explosive grenades will be utilized for taking out a large group of enemy soldiers, blinding them, and as a marker for the airstrikes. And Agent Violet... you're going to have to get used to an assault rifle."

"As long as I still get to keep my Glocks," Violet replied loudly from the front of the assembly.

"This briefing session is dismissed. Go get yourselves armed and stocked, we roll out in thirty minutes."

* * *

At the main armory where everyone of The Crew including the Specters gathered to gear up, some things happened that include some good, and bad news. Yes, it was about the talent show.

While I was busy filling up my ammo pouches, my cellphone rang in one of my belt pouches to a call from Flash. I thumbed the 'answer' button and held the phone at my ear. "What's up, Flash?" I began.

"I need you to get Benjamin, pronto," he said in an urgent tone.

I froze. I knew something had happened. "Benjamin! Can you come over here for a sec? And bring your earpiece."

He left his desk and I dragged him to the back of the trailer, into the fitting room and paired his earpiece to my phone. "What's this about?" he asked, whispering.

"Go ahead, Flash," I said.

"First, is Pandora anywhere near you?" Flash asked.

Benjamin peaked out of the door to quickly check. "She's at a work desk at the end of the trailer, we're safe," he reported.

"Okay, I've got bad news. I just got word that Punk Rat recruited some of his boys to compete in the talent show."

Benjamin arched his eyebrows in surprise and disbelief. "What?" he said.

"Damn, I never knew he could play music," I said.

"Me neither."

"Do you know what his band's gonna play?" asked Benjamin.

"No, but rumors say that he's gonna woo Pandora with it."

"Why even bother? He's got no chance after the stunt he pulled off to her," I said.

"I know right? I'm just worried that he'll win."

"I'm not aiming for the win. All I want is her," said Benjamin.

"I thought so. So, will you guys make it back here before Monday night? I heard your uncle's broadcasting the whole show in an online live stream. I went to see the stage at the theater in 34th Street, it's crawling with Rodent's Gazette people."

"Really? Well, if we manage to save our last hostage on time, sure," I said.

"Alright, see ya then."

I hung up, and when Benjamin flung the curtain door open...

"GAH!" Benjamin and I gasped.

Pandora had just appeared. "Hey boys!" she cheerfully greeted.

Still with our faces stuck in pop-eyed looks, Benjamin and I exchanged shocked looks. "Hey, Pandora!" Benjamin replied nervously.

"Am I interrupting anything?" she asked.

"Uh, no..?" Benjamin said, blanching.

"What have you heard?" I interrogated.

"Nothing really, I just got here," she stated.

"Oh. What's up?" I asked.

"You know what's on tomorrow?"

"You and Benjamin's anniversary of the first day you guys met. Why?"

Pandora gave out a heavy sigh. "I think I won't be able to give you that surprise gift this year, Benjamin."

"Why not?" Benjamin asked.

"I wish I could reveal it to you tomorrow, but since we're probably not getting back to New Mouse City in time... I wanted to take you to the annual Little Tails Spring Talent Show. Talia Squeaks is making a special opening performance, and Tina Parmesani's gonna be the special guest. I already bought us tickets, but... (Sigh)... I promise, I'll make it up to you."

"Ah, there's no need. Besides, I think this op's just gonna last overnight, maybe we can fly out in the morning."

"Yeah... Oh, plus, I heard that Danny's competing."

Immediately my eyes bulged. "How the heck did you know that?" I interrogated her again, having a skeptical look painted on my face.

"Dude, everyone talked about it in school," she stated.

"There goes the surprise..."

"Well, see you guys in a bit!" she left and got back to her work desk.

I assumed she was out of hearing range. "That was close..." I sighed.

Trap stayed alone at a work desk near a rack of FAMASs close to the ramp of the trailer while the rest of us were in the back telling stories, cracking jokes, and the Specters roasting one another while getting our weapons. Geronimo was the only one closest to him and he couldn't help feeling guilty over the things he said to him while he kept his M4 in check. After he finished, he slung the weapon on his back, swiped his helmet from his desk and ambled towards Trap.

Geronimo nervously cleared his throat. "Trap, uh... do you have a minute?"

He picked out a FAMAS FÉLIN and inspected it. "Sure," he spoke up, without turning.

Geronimo approached him and stood beside him. He put down his helmet on the desk, propping himself on it as he looked down while Trap laid the rifle on the desktop. Geronimo breathed in deeply and let it out. "I don't know what happened to me. I don't know what got to me... ever since my old friend Charles Edam died in that car explosion. I guess... I was filled up with so much anger and vengeance until it changed the way I was. And it came to stay... even when I was at my calmest."

Trap locked an EOTech hybrid sight into place on the top rail. "When we first became agents," Geronimo continued, "I never realized the bad things I've said towards you and the others. It was just because I got frustrated when we failed to catch Williams every time we managed to locate him. I got so angry, even my own family paid the price. I remember that I made Thea cry once because of this. But I didn't notice that my family wanted to become agents because they wanted to help me find Charlie's murderer. You guys gave your full support to me... and I took it for granted."

Trap pulled the charging handle twice to try the smoothness. "I want to apologize," Geronimo confessed, slightly turning to Trap. "I am really, _really_ sorry for the things I've said and done to you in the past. I was completely unaware until you mentioned it back in Cyprien-Plage. You were right... I'm not just your leader. I'm your cousin - and I shouldn't have treated you that way."

Trap had been attaching a sling to his FAMAS. "I forgive you, and I'm sorry too, cuz," he apologized, turning to his cousin. "We were in a stressed situation, and I shouldn't have put so much pressure on you."

Geronimo wore a faint smile. "Thank you. I will make sure that I won't snap at you like that again."

"Just one more thing, Geronimo... When you said that I was overweight..." Trap sobbed, "did you really mean it?"

Geronimo's guilt came back. "Oh... of course I didn't. Come on, let's just hug it out..."

Both of them gave each other a warm hug and Trap tried to not cry at Geronimo's ear. "I knew you'd never mean that!" Trap said.

It lasted a few seconds, and Geronimo gave Trap a hearty pat on the shoulder, Bruce Hyena style. "Let's go get Julie back," he muttered.

* * *

All of us went from light to heavy in just twenty minutes. Paulina and I were carrying the iPhones on the mid-top position of our plate carriers, Paulina's was for backup if any of The Crew gets separated and needed to disable an enemy electronic. Trap had left his KSG shotgun for a FAMAS FÉLIN. Both Nicky and Pamela carried the RPG-7D3s on their backs with warheads in compact backpacks, and Violet, Colette, and I switched primaries to HK417s. In Hussein's team, he and a fellow rifleman, Amir Rafiq, carried G36Ks. His three gunners had M249s and SMAWs as RPGs, his two scouts chose FAMAS FÉLINs, and his two snipers were armed with AS50s.

We waited outside while waiting for the others to get themselves ready. Some squads were loading their Gurkhas with ammunition.

"Hey, if the other soldiers are riding in Gurkhas, what are we riding in?" Hussein asked.

"Danny called in two armored cars, I expect them to arrive in a few seconds," Geronimo explained.

The muscle of his team, Kassim, smugged. "What's it gonna be this time, Danny?" he asked in his deep, low voice.

I kept looking at the direction of the gate. "Does that answer your question?" I said.

Two pairs of bi-xenon headlights emerged from behind a hangar and shone directly into our eyes. The beam blinded the others and they couldn't make out what cars they were. Their turbocharged diesel engines roared and whined at high revs, growing louder every meter they closed in. The Crew kept staring to figure out what those two autonomous AI beasts were.

"Crew, meet Krieger and Taureau," I introduced.

The two SUVs braked to a screeching halt right in front of us. "They're so huge..." Pamela admired.

"Krieger is a Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6," I started. "His engine is an upgraded 6.0 liter quad-turbo diesel V8, capable of producing 1,378 horsepower thanks to four upgraded turbochargers, race-spec exhaust system and fuel conversion to ethanol-diesel. He has six-wheel drive, only weighs 3,200 kilos, so he can take off from zero to sixty-two in four seconds. He can also reach top speeds of 340 kilometers an hour. His body panels are made of graphene and glass made of Betagel, able to withstand bullets up to .50 BMG armor piercing rounds and explosions from IEDs while being light as a feather. He has adjustable air pressure airless tires, and if shot, he's still able to drive fast thanks to flexible plastic honeycomb spokes inside the tires.

"Taureau as you can see is a Terradyne Gurkha MPV. He has a 7.0 liter quad-turbo diesel V8 pushing the same power output as Krieger does, weighs 5000 kilos, and a little more. He can seat up to ten people, has a roof hatch for the gunner with a shield, eight gun ports, thermal and nightvision imaging, and air-conditioned. He has the same defence systems as Krieger. Expect to be transported at 200 miles an hour."

"The Specters will take Taureau," Hussein announced.

"Knock yourselves out..."

* * *

**2041 hours**

Every soldier on site was getting into their Gurkhas and firing up their diesel engines except The Crew, who had final farewells to say to our friends who stayed at the base.

We gathered and had a hug fest with each other in front of Taureau and Krieger. "Good luck out there, you lot," Prof Philips wished to Geronimo, hugging him.

"Thank you, Graham," he replied.

"As long as you all make it back here, I'll be fine," Russell expressed while embracing Thea.

"We will," she said.

"Now, you and Pandora be careful out there," Prof Von Volt advised.

"We'll make back, Prof. Don't worry," Benjamin reassured.

When the others were all set to roll out, I was the last person to say goodbye to Pinky. I took a step in front of her. When I stared into her sparkling light blue eyes, she gazed back at mine. Apparently, both of us didn't know what to say to each other, maybe because out of nervousness. "Hey..." I broke the silence.

"Hey..." she replied shyly.

My mouth was hanging open, waiting for a single word to be spoken. "I don't really know what to say to you, Pinky," I sheepishly admitted, chuckling.

"Me neither, but... I just want you to know that... I want you to come back because... I'll be waiting for you. Right here."

"I'll make sure that I come back safe and sound. Trust me."

"I do. By the way, you always seem to forget about this..." She revealed something from behind her back, tucked in the back pocket of her denim short skirt.

"My lightsaber..." My smile grew wider. "Thanks, Pinks."

"Don't mention it..."

Another short quietness filled the cold night air. "So, I guess this is goodbye?" I asked.

"Just don't make it our last." She kept staring at me blankly for a few blinks. "Can I have that hug now?"

I blushed. "Sure..."

She came forward and gave me a cuddly bear hug. She wanted to keep it long, so I let her. Out of the blue, I heard her sob at my ear and she squeezed me tighter as if she didn't want to let me go. I stroked her head to console her and hushed her.

I glanced at The Crew who watched our embrace. Thea, Pandora, Trap, and the Thea Sisters were shedding tears.

She finally released me after a few short seconds, and held me by my shoulder. "Don't get shot again, okay?" she requested.

"I'll try not to."

"Good. Now go get Julie back!"

Hussein clapped twice to get our attention. "OKAY, SOAP OPERA'S OVER! Let's get this show on the road," he said, proceeding to enter Taureau.

"Gunners and Trap, get on Krieger's truckbed. Thea, you're driving as usual," Geronimo ordered.

"I'm joining the gunners at the back," I reserved a spot to myself.

"Count me in," Paulina said.

All of us climbed on, and both drivers turned the key. The two trucks briefly chorted, and they grumbled to life. "Attention all vehicles, rendezvous at the gates when you're ready because we are going to move out in a short while," Geronimo radioed the other armored vehicles.

Not five minutes later, we rolled out of the gates. I waved goodbye to Pinky when we drove by the mobile operations unit. Soon, were on the way to liberate Charles de Gaulle airport.

* * *

**A1 Autoroute - Paris, France  
5 kilometers to Charles de Gaulle**

**2125 hours**

We were on the highways at 120 miles an hour. The roads were dark as a cave with no street lights, not even from the moon as it was nearing the end of the month, and we were lonely with no other cars seen for miles. The air was cold and shivery to the point when we breathed out, we saw our own breath vapor coming out of our mouths.

We were nearing the airport after driving three quarters of an hour. So far, everything was clear, but we were still waiting for status updates from Pinky. "Lovely night, eh boys?" Pamela described through the comms.

"It's pitch black and I've seen nothing for miles," said Hussein's right-hand man, Kassim who rode shotgun. "And it's freezing cold, Hussein can you turn up the heater a lil' bit?"

"Taureau doesn't have a heater," Hussein said.

"Well that sucks," said Adam Majid, one of his snipers.

"Do not lick the ze metal panels or your tongue will get stuck," Colette joked from inside the cabin, in the backseat.

"I can't believe you pulled that off even in a situation like this," I said.

"Well, you can't be too uptight or upset. Take it easy and lighten up, it keeps your head in the game without all the pressure and stress," Violet justified.

"Violet is right," Colette supported. "But though, I am still worried about Julie. I just hope she is alright."

"After that taser act she pulled off on God-knows-who, I wouldn't say she's doing too good," said one of the Specter's scout, Adnan Razak.

Colette looked down in a heavy sigh. "I would not count on it either," she said hopelessly. "But hoping is the best thing you can do when you cannot do anything more."

"As long as there's hope," Geronimo said.

"True that," Hussein agreed.

A beep came through our comms. "Crew, this is Eyes In The Sky," Pinky radioed.

"Go ahead, Eyes," Geronimo said.

"Your convoy is entering the possible range of the enemy's radio scanner, impose radio silence, over."

"Copy that, Eyes," Geronimo said before we cut off.

"You heard her boys," said Hussein. "Specters, signing off."

I decided to continue the topic. "You know, Colette? I've never seen a friendship that close besides Benjamin and Pandora," I said.

"You're forgetting a couple of guys, Danny," Thea interrupted.

"Okay, just to get things straight; you and Geronimo are more than just my friends. You're my siblings!" I said.

Colette, still in grief, giggled. "Well, I can say that Julie and I are a bit like Benjamin and Pandora, as well as you with Thea and Geronimo, Danny. We are a little bit like friends, but much closer. We are cousins! She is ze closest thing I have to an older sister."

I tilted my head. "Sounds like she means a lot to you," I said.

"She does. You might not know, but outside ze Thea Sisters books, Julie and I would talk to each other everyday on ze phone. She would listen to my problems and would care to share them with me, give me fashion tips when we had an event at Whale Island and I did not know what to wear... I do not know what would I do if I lost her."

I nodded.

Pamela who couldn't stand another second of silence decided to break it. "Welp, this trip is getting too boring. Does Krieger got any tracks in the stereo?" she asked.

"Actually, may I try being ze stereo instead?" Colette proposed.

"Wow... It's not everyday you get to hear Coco sing," Violet stated.

"Yeah, when was the last time? A few months ago at an open mic night at that seafood restaurant back in Whale Island?" Nicky recalled.

"Yup," Paulina confirmed.

"What did you have in mind?" I said.

"Danny, could you put on Alan Walker's Faded minus one on our earpieces?" Colette requested.

"Of course..." I browsed for the video on YouTube from my HUD and played it in the team's earpieces.

_**Nous étions l'ombre et la lumière,**_

_**Et tu le sais?**_  
_**Nouveau départ, tu disparais...**_  
_**Comme emportes par le courant,**_  
_**Je veux nous voir...**_  
_**Vivants...**_

_**Mais où es tu?**_  
_**Mais où es tu?**_

_**Mais où es tu?**_  
_**Et si tu n'étais qu'illusion...**_  
_**Mais où es tu?**_  
_**Les fruit de mon imagination...**_

_**Mais où es tu?**_  
_**L'Atlantide...**_  
_**Sous la mer, sous la mer...**_  
_**Mais où es tu?**_  
_**Un autre rêve...**_  
_**Le démons au fond de moi se déchaînent...**_  
_**Je me perds!**_

_**Je me perds!**_  
_**Si seule, je me perds!**_

_**Je me perds!**_  
_**Si seule, je me perds...**_

_**Ces eaux profondes m'ont privée, Du me réponses...**_  
_**Je lâche prise, et je m'enfonce...**_  
_**Et ce silence m'anéantit,**_  
_**Mais je respire... je survis...**_

_**Mais où es tu...?**_  
_**Mais où es tu...?**_

_**Quand les éclairs, sont apparus**_  
_**Tu as mie mon cour en feu...**_

_**Mais où es tu?**_  
_**Je suis perdue...**_

_**(Bridge)**_

_**Mais où es tu?**_  
_**L'Atlantide...**_  
_**Sous la mer, sous la mer...**_  
_**Mais où es tu?**_  
_**Un autre rêve!**_  
_**Le démons au fond de moi se déchaînent...**_  
_**Je me perds!**_

_**Je me perds!**_  
_**Si seule, je me perds!**_

_**Je me perds!**_  
_**Si seule, je me perds...**_

"Heads up guys, your turn's just up ahead," Pinky alerted.

"Roger that, Eyes," Thea acknowledged.

I looked ahead of the road. Two marked objectives in the spec's HUD labeled in white: 'Northern Company Checkpoint' and 'Southern Company Checkpoint' floated somewhat fifty feet above with a straight line pinpointing downwards.

Looking behind, I saw the Southern Company Gurkhas and APCs keep right early. "Good luck, men," I muttered. They, including Ghoul, Spook, Spirit, Shade, Wraith, Shadow, Diane, and Pierre disappeared from view when we passed the turn off, and a second later, our turn off came up.

"Hang in there you guys at the back, 'cause this turn's gonna be tight," Thea said.

We entered the looping interchange, then traveled westbound to loop the airport and approach it from the north as planned.

* * *

**2136 hours**

We turned our headlights off when we entered the designated Red Zone, a five-kilometer radius of the airport and used nightvision.

We followed the last waypoint marked on our AR HUD. We entered a road surrounded by hedge trees on the sides as tall as our vehicles; a perfect spot to keep hidden. As we cruised further down the curve, a group of friendly French tanks were parked on the side and along to the end of the road and some soldiers standing by them. As we drove by, the soldiers and the turret operators mounted behind the main cannons had their eyes locked on us.

Thea drove up to the leading tank and slowed down. Geronimo rolled down the window as one of the soldiers crossed the road before we came to a halt. "Commander Tomber," Geronimo greeted.

"Agent Stilton," said the commander of the tank squad. "We are ready for ze Assault Phase, we will move on your go."

"Fantastic! I'll drop off the SAS teams and the cars for the diversion at Objective 1. They will move with a few tanks tailing them when I give the green as the Northern Company drives to the Sniper Towers. When we get there, I'll signal for the rest of the tanks to roll out to Objective 4. When the sniping phase ends, storm the Objective until we get there but DO NOT use your main cannons. Got it?"

"Loud and clear. Good luck."

Thea pulled away from the Commander with the rest of our Company and Geronimo rolled the window back up. The SAS teams were left behind with Banshee, Vision, Ghost, and Specter. Another soldier stood on the road to redirect us to the Sniper Towers. We made a right turn at the roundabout and from there on out, we were completely exposed.

"Disabling enemy electronics," I initiated. I looked down on the iPhone flipping downwards on my plate carrier in its Juggernaut casing. I selected everything except enemy comms from Terminal 2, the freight terminals, Terminal 1, and the control tower and tapped on 'disable'. The individual icons for the selected devices changed from green to red.

"Attention all call signs, time to break radio silence. Skirmishers, you are clear to move out to your objective," Geronimo radioed.

"Copy," replied an SAS operative.

We continued straight towards our objective. The darkness was our only cover apart from our black paint jobs. I knew the matte finishing would keep the light glare from reflecting. Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. The electricity had been cut off there too, so no streetlights were lit. We kept our speed down so our engines wouldn't rev too high and loud. We crossed under the two bridges that connected the north and south runways; the next parts of the road after it was where we were mostly exposed. I scoured at Terminal 2 blankly as I felt the blood rush in my veins.

I really need to stop reminding myself of the worst things that could happen.

We had arrived at the Sniper Towers three minutes later. "Attention all Northern Company call signs, your designated towers are marked in your AR HUDs. Navigate your way to them and get your snipers into their rooftop positions, over," Geronimo commanded over the radio.

"We're taking on Objective 5 after this, right G?" Trap wanted to reconfirm.

"Yes, why?"

"Then why are we taking Tower 4?" Thea said as she turned left into another street. Tower 4 was Hotel Novotel, a tower for snipers facing south.

"Because, the Irish wanted to nest on Tower 7." Tower 7 is the Hilton Hotel CDG, for snipers facing west towards Terminal 1.

"The three of our snipers just wanted a challenge, Objective 6 seems the most farthest to them," Anderson admitted.

"Yeah, we love doin' stuff like this," said Finlay.

"I never knew you were a sniper, Finlay," I said.

"I'm a pretty damn good one too!"

"From Tower 7 to Objective 6 is about 1.2 clicks," Pinky informed.

"Twelve hundred meters is a challenge for you? I call it sniper training," Paulina bragged.

"Oh? Then how far have _you_ shot before?"

"I once had a confirmed kill on a deer at two thousand meters with an M40A5. With twenty kilometers an hour of wind blowing."

Finlay ran out of words. "Okay, I admit, that is good."

"Naturally."

"Congratulations, Greyhawk. You're the first one to successfully shut Finlay up," said Anderson.

"I'll take that as my new call sign..."

We entered the hotel's parking lot and parked in front of the lobby entrance, where we met with four other squads who dropped off their snipers here as well; Australian, 2 British, and Canadian.

"Northern and Southern Artillery, proceed to Objective 4. Northern Artillery Division, move to Objective 6," Geronimo signaled.

"Copy," came the reply from the two tank squad leaders.

"Violet and Colette, you're going with Greyhawk," Thea said.

Paulina hopped off from the truckbed with rope slung and Pamela passed her Barrett afterwards while the Scouts exited the cockpit. "We'll see you guys back down here," she said. When she turned around, she saw eight other male snipers grouping up at the lobby entrance.

"All set, ladies?" asked a British sniper.

Paulina turned to Colette and Violet, asking, "Got your ropes, girls?"

"Check!" They both said in unison.

"Let's go."

They went into the dark and cold lobby before the men could, scampered her way to the elevators with help from her nightvision.

"The elevators are out, let's use the stairs," said one of the Australians.

"Hold on." Paulina propped her Barrett against the wall and flipped down her iPhone. "Hotels like Novotel are equipped with backup generators to keep high service standards by keeping electricity available in case of a power outage. Nowadays, most transfer switches are electronic and computerized, so if the switch isn't transferring the electric load to the generator, it means that the commands for the switch to work in the operating system have been deleted."

"And you are suggesting zat we hack into it and add ze missing command lines?" Colette said.

"Exactly." While she was explaining, she hacked into the switch and had navigated to the transfer switch's kernel. She found where exactly to add the command and typed it in.

"Wait, if the power surges through the whole building, the lights will turn on. You'll expose us to the enemy!" warned another British sniper.

"Then I'll just redirect the power to just the elevators." She added another line of command, then when she pressed 'enter', the elevators came to life.

She smiled in satisfaction, flipped her phone back up and pressed the up button on the wall. As the doors to one of the elevators opened, she grabbed her rifle by the carrying handle and entered the elevator with it and her two friends.

They faced the door just to find the men still frozen, somewhat admiring Paulina's abilities. "You guys coming in or what?" she said to snap them out of it.

After they gave each other looks, they joined the girls and they ascended to the top floor.

Once they came out of roof access, they faced south and fanned out, setting up shop and preparing their ropes for scaling down the building.

"This is Eyes to The Crew, Southern Company has dropped off its division to Objective 2, and the rest are awaiting your command, over," Pinky informed.

"Copy that, Eyes," Geronimo acknowledged. "Northern Company, what's your status?"

"This is Tower 7, almost finish setting up, stand by," McCormick of the Irish Alpha Seven Unit.

"Tower 6, standing by," said a Bundeswehr sniper.

"Tower 5, standing by," reported a Canadian sniper.

"Tower 4, awaiting further orders," Paulina said.

"Tower 3, standing by," said an Italian sniper.

"Tower 2, in position," a Belgian sniper radioed.

"Tower 1, ready to rock," said Specter 7, aka Malik Aziz.

"Copy. Spotters, scan and mark targets."

Spotters from all towers scoured the area with binoculars, having thermal vision turned on. Shapes of men began to highlight in red as well as red arrowheads pointing down on each one in our HUDs. At first, I counted ten, but their numbers grew and their positions started to get scattered. Once all of the spotters were done, we had to deal with sixty snipers on our side of Terminal 2.

"That is a lot of snipers..." said another Australian sniper.

"Southern Company, how many Tangos are on your side?" Geronimo asked.

"Same as you on your side," said the French Colonel.

"Southern Company Division, status?"

"Tangos marked and standing by," said the division's leader.

"Skirmishers, status?"

"ETA, 5 minutes."

"Copy that."

Paulina who looked through her scope got bored. "So, what's everyone's names?" she asked the men.

"I was just about to ask zat..." Colette said.

The sniper wearing a sniper's boonie hat with the thick beard lit up a cigar and smoked on it. "They call me Bravo Six, name's Captain John Price. I'm from the British 22nd Special Air Service regiment with Soap here."

"What ze hell kind of name is 'Soap'?" Colette asked mockingly.

Price chuckled. "The actual question I asked him when he was new to the regiment..."

"Believe me, you don't want to know..." said Soap with his Scottish accent. "That's my call sign. I'm Sergeant John MacTavish."

"Sergeant Gary Sanderson. Call me Roach," introduced another SAS sniper. "Archer, mate?"

"Just call me by my call sign," said Archer.

"Okay then... Anyway, those four are Rook and Meat from the Australian Army, and Chemo and Royce from Canada. They have flag badges, you'll know who's who."

"Hold on a minute... Price, Soap... Archer... Those names sound familiar," Paulina said in suspicion. When she finally pieced it together, she left her aim and looked at the eight of them. "Oh my Gouda, you guys are Task Force 141..."

"Damn it...! What gave it away?" Rook asked.

A smile began to grow on her snout. "Nothing. I just happen to know a person who tells stories about you guys."

"You're welcome," Thea chimed in.

"I should've known... How's it been, Thea?" Price asked.

"All's good, Price."

"Where's the rest of 141?" Paulina asked.

"Scattered. Ghost, how're you doing at the Southern Division?" Soap radioed.

"Quiet, why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Just our cover as 141 has been compromised."

"Damn it, Thea!"

"That's Tracer to you, Ghost."

"Cut the chatter, guys. Stay frosty," Price told, blowing out cigar smoke while aiming. "What about you then, miss? What's your name since you've asked us?"

"Paulina. Call sign Greyhawk," she insisted. "Interpol Special Agent and a member of The Crew. Those two are Violet and Colette." Colette gave a fluttery-fingered wave hello with a smile.

Meanwhile, I hatched up an idea. "I've set up a scoreboard for the snipers, each confirmed kill gets a hundred points," I said.

"This is going to be fun..." Paulina went back to scoping.

A few seconds later, word came from the Skirmishers. "Attention all call signs, Skirmishers are approaching Objective One. ETA 15 seconds, over," said an SAS soldier.

"Copy that, waiting for your green," Geronimo replied.

We waited out a few more ticks. Violet and Colette stood back to watch the sniping phase, the snipers of all towers are ready to engage, and Price kept smoking on his cigar.

Then we heard distant gunfire to our left. This was it.

"Skirmishers have engaged with enemies, Sniping Phase is a go!" signaled the same SAS.

"Light 'em up, snipers!" Geronimo commanded.

The silent night turned violent when Paulina in reflex took the first shot, then the others followed. Gunfire echoing in the distance, they waited out for the rounds that flew in an arc to reach their targets over a click away.

Paulina's kill was the first blood, confirmed by the specs that gave the snipers scores to the leaderboard. As soon as everyone had their first kills, they kept firing.

"We've a blind shooter, two o'clock," Soap said.

"Target acquired." Meat let a round off.

The scores kept going up, and the number of targets gradually went down. Bolts pulled, shells ejected, muzzles flashed with leftover expanding gasses pushing the dust and dirt near the muzzle brakes.

"We've got a runner through the windows," Chemo alerted.

"I got him." Rook took his shot.

Paulina was the fastest shooter at the moment, even the boys of 141 couldn't keep up. She shot in short intervals without even waiting for the bullet to hit her target.

"To the right, aiming straight at you, Greyhawk," Archer pointed out.

"Solid copy." Paulina shot her victim's head.

BANG! She shot one at the left, then BANG! She shot another at her far right. And she was so efficient, each trigger pull she took successfully popped a skull of an enemy sniper. Her gun clicked on empty after Paulina emptied the magazine in fifteen seconds, reloaded without a pause, and continued to make the rifle chant it's fierce and loud song in the same tempo.

Price himself had never seen a sniper like that, so does the rest of 141.

"Whoa-ho! Slow down, Greyhawk!" Soap said, blasting away with his AS50 rifle.

"Keep up, boys!" Paulina taunted, not leaving her aim.

Paulina had been in the lead since the start of the phase. She, in the moment, had collected 21 kills (all headshots) in the period of 30 seconds.

"I don't have a shot, tango keeps moving," Royce said.

"Gotcha covered." Paulina got his six.

Once all of the red highlighted men were eliminated (with, again, Paulina getting the finishing shot, totaling up to 25 kills), Price announced the status. "Objective 4 is clear, over," he reported.

"I have the same to convey for Objectives 5 and 6," Anderson said.

"Objective 2 is clear," said the Southern Company division leader.

"Alright, all call signs are clear to infiltrate. Snipers, climb down and proceed to your objectives with your squads."

"GO! GO! GO!" Price shouted.

The snipers slung their weapons on their backs, attached the ropes to some links on each person's belt, vaulted over the ledge and scaled down the Towers.

While rappelling down the ropes, the 141 snipers had a little chat with Paulina. "That was some good sniping, Greyhawk!" Roach praised, pushing his legs against the concrete wall and going down.

"What kind of optics are you using?" Chemo asked.

"The default Leupold scope with the BORS (Barrett Optical Ranging System) computer and thermal imaging, why?" Paulina asked back.

"Now who taught you how to shoot like that?" Royce said.

"Tracer did."

"You're one of Thea's students?" Archer asked.

"No wonder..." Price muttered.

They made their final push and landed on the asphalt flat on their boots with a stomp. The quickly disconnected themselves from their ropes and embarked onto their vehicles. Thea had the engine running, so as soon as Colette, Violet, and Paulina hopped on, Thea stepped on the gas.

"141 Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta are with The Crew. Same goes to Specters, Alpha Six and Seven," Geronimo informed. "Northern Company to Objective 4. The rest are joining the guns at Objective 6 as Northern Division 1. Veyronica and Anton, you're with us. Phantom, Haunter, and Terra, go with Northern Division 1."

"On your six, Crew," Hussein replied.

"Lead the way," Price said.

Thea lead the eight-squad convoy plus two autonomous AI cars, twisting the wheel left back into Rue de New York.

"Eyes, are we clear until we get to Objective 5?" Thea asked.

There was a short pause. "Affirmative, Crew, nothing ahead of you until you get to Objective Fiv - correction! Control Tower has spotted your movement, three armored bogies are coming your way to intercept," Pinky alerted. "Three hundred meters and closing, just around that bend."

"Sahara and Outback, machine guns mounted on the roof, now!" Geronimo ordered.

Pamela and Nicky deployed their bipods, mounted their guns on the roof, and stood on the truckbed aiming down the sights.

"I need more vehicles spread across this road," Geronimo requested. The Specters, 141 Bravo and Charlie lined up side by side across the four-lane road. "All gunners, get behind your .50 cals and prepare to open fire."

Roach, Chemo, and Amir Rafiq came out of their vehicles' roof hatches and waited. We saw their headlights emerge from around the bend. We were about to engage them, that's when flashes from enemy guns lit first and ricochets on the panels were heard.

"ENGAGE! ENGAGE!" Geronimo hastily commanded.

The mounted guns thundered, reverberating against the banking at the sides of the road. The deafening sound of gunfire wasn't enough to blow my reinforced eardrums out, though since I sat beside Nicky. Sparks from both factions' vehicles flew off the panels. "Aim for their tires!" Price shouted.

Shots were then focused towards enemy tires. The indicator that the shots were confirmed was the three armored cars swerved and blocked the road entirely, their sides facing us.

But that became another problem.

"We gotta bust through that blockade, G!" Hussein shouted.

"Sahara, Outback, ready the RPGs!" Geronimo ordered.

The two set their guns down in the truck bed and took out their launchers and warheads out of their backpacks, promptly assembling them. They took their aim and launched the rockets; flying in a spiral in trails of smoke. The rockets destroyed their targets, making the vehicles flip to the sides of the road. The Technologist soldiers who were taking position behind the surviving vehicle were stunned, so was their gunner. We went around them and kept driving towards the control tower.

"Your path is clear until you get to Objective 5," Pinky said.

"We know we can count on you, Pinks," I stated.

"Thanks, Obi-Wan."

"So, what are we up against when we ram through Objective 5's gates, Eyes?" Price asked.

"I've sent satellite feeds to your specs." I checked out the feed on the HUD. "They occupy a large area of the place, mostly the front and left the back entrances lightly guarded. You've got eight guys guarding the gates, twenty roaming around the parking lot, and twenty more forming a perimeter around the main building, the tower and the north and northeast fences."

"What's the plan?" Roach asked.

"Some of you guys have to ambush the front gates while two teams attack the rear entrance. Then infiltrate the area and start an open assault to draw their attention to the parking lot while the teams that took the back route circle their way there and take them out from behind. There isn't anyone in the second building but there shouldn't be much Technologist soldiers in the main building either. Either way, clear all the floors in the main building."

"What about the tower itself?" Hussein said.

"I need some of our guys with grenade launchers to shoot up smoke grenades through the tower's windows from the ground, around the tower while ten guys go up the elevator since it's the only way up there."

"Once the squad is up there, then what?" I said.

"Storm the place. The smoke will provide cover while thermal vision helps to see through it."

"Right, so which squad will take the tower?" Archer asked.

Thea glanced at her brother. "Let's do it, Geronimo," Thea urged.

He peered over to the backseat. Violet, Colette, and Pandora nodded in agreement.

"We can do this, Unc," Benjamin supported.

"We're with you all the way, G," I added.

Without much thinking, he announced, "The Crew and I'll storm the tower."

"Okay, it's settled. How do we execute this plan?" Soap asked.

"The Crew and the Specters will take the back while the rest of us take the front," Geronimo proposed. Keep them busy and take out as many as you can while we circle our way to the parking lot. Split up, taking three meters within each other. Weapons are to be set at semi-auto, engagement distance is at sixty meters. Once the lot is cleared, enter the main building and clear all floors as Eyes said. Launchers say outside, and when The Crew gets to the elevator to the tower, we'll give the signal."

"Rules of engagement, G?" I asked.

"Crew expendable."

"And if we find any friendlies?" Archer said.

"Rescue them. The specs will tell you who's who."

"Alright, my team and I'll lead and ambush them first," said Roach. "It'll be quick and easy I hope, while The Crew and Specters drive by us to take the rear entrance." With that, the Australian 141 Alpha team's Gurkha zoomed pass us and took on the gates ahead.

"WEAPONS FREE, BOYS!" Roach ordered, as we listened to the radio.

He had one of his teammates man the mounted turret, while the men inside the back opened their gun ports and pointed the muzzles of their guns out. They went all guns blazing on The Technologists troops, making them bite the dust. We sped past them with the Specters behind us, straight to charge into the gates.

"MOVE IN! GO GO GO!" Price shouted. Veyronica and Anton crashed the gates first and let off suppressive shots with others tailing them.

Meanwhile as they stormed the front, we run-and-gunned the guards at the back entrance and circled the buildings back to the parking lot.

"So, when were you gonna tell me about 'Tracer'?" I asked Thea through the comm.

We neared the drop-off, and she put the Mercedes 6x6 pickup to a stop. "When we dropped off Paulina and the scouts at the Sniper Towers..." she said, sounding smug.

I and the others vaulted out from the truckbed. "I like that call sign... sounds more feminine."

Thea and the rest shut the doors behind them. "That's my old call sign from the 2011 L.A. Weapons Expo, FYI."

I pulled my HK417's charging handle, hunching into a stance. "Wait, you're telling me that Task Force 141 was involved in the. 2011 L.A. Weapons Expo?"

"She's right," Geronimo confirmed.

"You guys HAVE to tell me stories about the times before you met me..."

Geronimo went to check out how the assault was going from behind cover; a circular part of the building connected to the main building by a bridge. He took a little peek, then made a paw signal to get us over to him and stack up behind him. "There are about twenty-five left, but they need the help anyway," he said. "Specters, you take that side. Tell me when you're ready." He went back to aiming while in cover.

Thea being the one behind her brother placed a her free paw on his left shoulder. She looked back and nodded to ask us, and we nodded back in reply; Paulina with her Glock 18 drawn. She turned back to Geronimo and gripped his shoulder to signal. He nodded at Hussein and Hussein nodded back.

Time to surprise them.

Geronimo crept in with Hussein first as they took steady shots. Once the rest of us had a clear line of fire, we joined the firing squad. We fired until every last Technologist was gunned down.

"Area clear," Hussein announced.

"Proceed into building," Geronimo commanded.

Benjamin deployed Max to scout the area. The sonic beep it emitted didn't highlight any enemies in the circular building or the bridge, so it was safe for entry. The gunners who had grenade launchers stayed behind and got into positions.

Inside, where it was lit, there seemed to be as deserted as other buildings. That put my mind a little at ease.

"Building seems clear," Finlay announced.

Price stepped up to Geronimo. "You guys get to the elevators with the Specters. The rest of us are going to check out the building," he proposed.

Geronimo nodded an answer. "Let's go, Crew."

The stomping of our boots were ever so muffled by the carpeted floor. When we split up with the rest group, we navigated our way to the elevator using a minimap, the schematics of the building in our HUD.

"Check that corner," said Geronimo. We moved into the hallway once it was confirmed empty.

Max lead the path the whole way while scanning for enemies at every corner. Just a few turns left to take before we reach the bullpen that has the bridge connecting the base of the control tower to the building.

"Fifty meters," Hussein said.

We finally arrived at the final bullpen. At the wall at the other end of the bullpen was the entrance to bridge. At the other side was the elevator to the tower, all we had to do is get to it.

"There it is! Let's go!" Hussein alerted, starting to jog to it. We followed him and Geronimo who lead the team the all the way.

We weaved through the maze of cubicles at the far end of the bullpen. As we were halfway through, Max who flew further straight to the bridge stopped and emitted a sonar beep. Instead of hitting nothing, the beep pinged back and highlighted RED people. TEN of them, coming down the elevator. FAST.

We immediately stopped, but we were stumped for a second until the doors opened. They spotted us, and we were in for a hell of a fight in close quarters.

"DUCK FOR COVER!" Thea shouted. Everyone dived down and ducked for cover behind the cubicles as the enemy troops sprayed lead all over in the bullpen. The rounds that came out of L86 barrels pierced through some layers of the cubicle walls, but they never manage to get to us.

"Danny! See if you can hack into the building's electricity grid and turn the lights out," Geronimo requested, a bullet pierce the wall at his right.

"On it!" I shouted. I began generating commands from my head and sent them to the electricity grid to cut power except to the elevator. Meanwhile, the others returned fire to suppress them as much as they could. In a second or two later, power was cut off for every part of the building excluding the elevator.

We quickly turned nightvision on and Geronimo bellowed; "TAKE THEM DOWN!"

The hostiles were confused and disoriented, so we shot at them rapidly. It all ended as quickly as it started; silence filled the bullpen in a flash.

"Crew, what the hell is happening in your twenty?!"Price demanded.

"We made enemy contact, situation under control, over," Geronimo reported, ending the transmission.

"We gotta move," Trap said.

Upon reaching the elevator, Geronimo contacted the gunners outside. "This is The Crew to gunners, we are at the elevator, standby for signal."

"Copy that," said a gunner.

I checked my ammo counter. 35 rounds, should be enough for storming the tower. "You think this thing could fit all all eleven of us?" I asked.

"It could fit the ten guys they sent down to kill us, so why not?" Thea pointed out.

I smiled.

"Is this the only way up?" Nicky asked. "I don't seem comfortable going up in this..."

"Sorry, Nic. Looks like there's only one way up," Paulina said.

Nicky sighed in disappointment.

"Good luck up there," Hussein wished.

"Thanks," Pamela replied.

Pandora pushed the up button and the doors opened sideways. When we stepped in, it felt packed but not as packed as a can of sardines. The tiny spaces left unoccupied made Nicky feel calmer and less breathless. As the door closes, Violet being in the front pushed one of the only two buttons; up. We felt the elevator rising up, and as time ticked, the faster it went.

Geronimo tried to keep his motion sickness under control by taking breaths.

"Keep it together, Geronimo," Thea said.

"I'll be fine..." Geronimo assured, sounding queasy. "Okay, when the doors open, I want Benjamin, Paulina, Trap, and Pamela to stick with me and take the right. The rest, go with Thea and go for the left." We all nodded in agreement.

We had one-quarter way up to go, so then was the time to blind The Technologists.

"Benjamin, make the call for me, please," Geronimo insisted out of motion sickness.

"This is The Crew to gunners, smoke the tower," Benjamin squeaked into his mouthpiece.

The men outside took their aim and blasted smoke grenades up, using the specs' aim assist. The grenades only lost a little bit of velocity on the way up, but they were fast enough to break the glass as if it was tissue paper and enter the tower. In a few seconds, the tower was fogged up with clouds of smoke like a silent grave on a cold night.

"Tower's fogged," reported a gunner.

"Copy," Geronimo replied. "Pandora, ready a flashbang."

"Got it, boss," I said. She plucked a stun grenade from her belt and pulled the pin, but held on to the safety lever.

"Close your ear shutters..." he added.

Pinky started a countdown. "You are clear to engage in five..."

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One...!"

The doors opened the exact moment Pinky got to "one". Pandora threw the flashbang that exploded upon impact with the floor. The specs resisted the flashbang effects to our eyes, and the hostiles at the back end of the tower were stunned by the sound instead of with light.

"Weapons free!" Geronimo said.

With thermal vision on, we went with the plan; I stuck to Thea with Nicky, Colette, Violet, and Pandora while the others stuck to Geronimo. We lined up side by side along the radius of the tower to avoid friendly fire. We fired in bursts, dropping an enemy with every three shots. Before we knew it, it was already over as soon as it started.

We pointed our muzzles down as our team reunited. "This is The Crew to all Objective 5 callsigns, we have secured the control tower," Geronimo reported. "I need an update on the building sweep."

"Affirmative, Crew," Price replied. "Building is cleared, no signs of Tangos."

"Copy. We'll see you back down, over."

The grenades stopped smoking and the fog in the room was cleared by the wind that entered the shattered glass within half a minute. It got a little drafty, I thought.

Then, Pinky unexpectedly dropped in. "Eyes In The Sky to Crew, do you read?" Pinky radioed, sounding quite grave.

"Loud and clear. What do you have, Eyes?" Geronimo demanded.

"I don't mean to make you panic, but you've got trouble inbound from the southeast of your position."

Violet took no time to waste and looked through her binoculars. "It's an enemy SH-60 Seahawk."

I looked out the window and saw the blinking lights coming from the helicopter myself.

"ETA is in fifty seconds,"Pinky informed. "You have to evac, NOW."

"C'mon! We got no time left to lose," I stressed.

"Yeah..." Thea agreed. "EVERYBODY BACK TO THE ELEV-"

The sound of an explosion from below along with a tremor shook the building that nearly knocked us off our feet and paws. We regained our balance and stood in a hunched stance in case it happened again.

"What the CHEESE was that?!" Nicky said, trembling.

"I think it just shot the building," Paulina assumed.

"Greyhawk's right," Pinky confirmed. "That came from a 30 mm RAMICS cannon."

"What kinda cannon is that?" Pamela asked.

"Stands for Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System," I enlightened. "That thing's got a belt chain of ammo and a bad attitude."

Hussein came in through the comm. "Crew! We felt the building shake. Are you okay up there?"

"We're fine," Pamela replied. "As soon as we get down, I meant-"

More shots hit the building. I was watching the chopper taking the shot from afar. It spread vertically across the tower's width. The tower shook again, but this time it felt like an earthquake with a 6.0 magnitude on the Richter scale that lasted for about 3 seconds. We managed to keep standing on our paws and feet however in the stance, but still, we almost lost balance. It stopped, but we kept ourselves in the same position and gave each other looks.

"Is everyone alright?!" Geronimo said.

"I'm shaken, but I'll live," Trap quivered.

I breathed heavily. "I think I know what it's doing to the tower, guys," I announced.

"What?" Colette muttered, her eyebrows furrowed.

I didn't want to scare anyone, but they were staring at me; expecting an answer. "It's using the chopping-down-the-tree tactic."

Every pair of eyes bulged out in dismay.

"It's gonna kill us by making the tower collapse," Pandora gave it straight.

"We have to get outta here!" Violet said.

"Guys, whatever you're gonna do, do it FAST," Pinky interrupted. "The chopper's coming in hot."

"No need to remind us, Eyes," Paulina said.

Pandora tapped the down button but the doors wouldn't open. "Doors' aren't opening!"

"Well, I'm not gonna sit around and do nothing while we're stuck up here," Pamela stated. "I say we shoot that thing down." She stood up and took aim of her LSAT.

"Best idea you've had all night," Nicky approved, joining her.

Geronimo stepped up while reloading his weapon. "Greyhawk, Obi-Wan, and Benjamin, you take care of that elevator and see if you can get it to work again. The rest of us," he pulled the charging handle of his M4, "we make our stand." Then he and the rest aimed down their sights on the helicopter.

Meanwhile, the three of us tried to figure out what happened to the elevator. "Okay, so the doors won't open because of either two things," I analysed. "The electricity was cut off by a switch to prevent electrical leakage when the building shook, or..."

Benjamin got his Ben Pad out. "Electricity was cut off to the whole tower from the first shot," he continued.

"Thirty seconds till arrival, Crew," Pinky informed.

"We engage when it gets to twenty," Geronimo decided.

"I'm gonna hack into the transfer switch and see if I can send some power to the elevator," Paulina proposed. She sent some commands to the switch and let the backup generator supply power. "Try the button again, Benjamin."

He tapped on the button several times but nothing worked. "Looks like it didn't receive any power," he indicated.

"Based on the schematics I pulled up, he's right," I confirmed. "The generator's working, but the power's leaking somewhere."

"Twenty seconds!" Pinky signaled.

"ENGAGE!" Geronimo cued. The control room was flooded with sounds of gunfire.

"The first shot must've damaged the wiring to the tower," Paulina assumed. "With the extra shots it took, who knows how much damage it took with them."

Meanwhile, the others are struggling to shoot the chopper down. It seemed like it had reinforced panels and glass or something.

"It is not working!" Colette pointed out. "Our bullets are doing nothing to it!"

"Price! If you see an incoming bird, shoot it down!" Thea contacted, keeping her SCAR-L steady.

"We see it!" he stated. "We're gonna try as hard as we can!"

It had arrived seconds later, hovering about 30 meters from the control room with sparks flying at the bottom of the fuselage from the troops' bullets at the ground. The helicopter pivoted slowly so it's right side will face the room. When it did, we were stunned and ceased fire because standing by behind its M134 minigun was the gunner, ready to unleash a hailstorm of bullets upon us.

"Well I'll be stuffed..." Nicky exclaimed.

The barrels began to rotate and about to reach firing speed.

"HIT THE DECK!" Thea shouted.

We dropped to the ground under the desks while Benjamin, Paulina and I dove forward for the desks before the rounds hit everywhere around us. Thousands of tracer ammunition destroyed the computers and monitors and other equipment, ricocheted off the desktops, creating bulletholes in the metal walls where with sparks glowing bright orange, and shattered the glass windows further until nothing was left. We maintained lying down and kept pushing ourselves deeper inside under the desks.

"I hate it when this thing happens!" Trap shouted in frustration.

"We have to stop zat gunner!" Colette yelped.

"Danny, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Thea hinted, a bullet nearly missing her head by a fur.

I knew exactly what she was trying to say. "Cyprien-Plage?" I said.

"Cyprien-Plage," she repeated. "Outback, I want that RPG armed and ready to fire!"

Nicky grabbed her launcher and warhead with its rocket with caution to not let the warhead get shot. She inserted the warhead into the launcher but didn't pull the firing pin just yet, and set it on the ground close to cover.

"I want you to take that shot when Obi-Wan stops that gun from firing. Got it?" Thea squeaked. Nicky nodded heavily with no questions. "Alright, ready, Obi-Wan?"

"Just say when!" I said.

Looking out without poking her head, she shouted; "NOW!"

I used the Force to stop the barrels and hold the firing pin as I did back at Cyprien-Plage. The bullet storm cleared, there was no more flying lead, and that was the opportunity to strike back. HARD.

Nicky came out of hiding, into a stable position and shouldered her launcher. "Surprise, motherchopper!"

She pulled the trigger and the rocket propelled forward as its smoke expelled through the RPG's exhaust port. Leaving the room fogged up, the warhead hit the tail and detonated inside the bodywork; separating the tail from the fuselage. Nicky was knocked back by by the explosion but managed to stand her ground. The helicopter lost control and began to spin on its way down.

"One-Four-One, you've got incoming!" Geronimo warned.

"EVACUATE THE LOT!" Price shouted to the others at the bottom.

The rest of us stood up unharmed while Nicky tried to peer down over the edge. "Good onya, mate," I praised Nicky.

"Thanks," she replied, pulling her head back in.

But, trouble wasn't over yet as we thought it was.

"Crew, brace yourselves! The chopper's gonna hit the-" said Soap before disaster struck.

The tower shook again, this time with the greatest might. On my mind, the helicopter must've crashed into the tower when it was falling. Most of us fell over, some tried to maintain our balance, but Thea who was closest to the desks lost her footing, tumbled over the them backwards and fell out of the window screaming.

"Thea!" I cried out.

By then, the shaking stopped and I ran over to where she fell. I climbed and crawled on the desk and pushed the monitors away, then looked down out of the window. I discovered that Thea had gotten hold of the window pane with her fingers at the last second, and her right hand holding on to her SCAR-L. Down below, the Technologist Black Hawk met its fate when it slammed on the empty grass area behind the buildings in a fiery inferno after losing its propeller blades to the tower's structure.

"Thea!" I called again.

"A little help here?!" Thea desperately requested, dangling like a ragdoll.

The gentle night breeze whistled into my ear. I stretched my arm for her paw but it was a little too far out of reach. So I tried lying on top of the desk with half my body sticking out, but I could only touch her fingers.

"Hang in there...!" I grunted.

I saw her fingers about to give up on the grip because of her fur. "I'm slipping!" she trembled.

"Just... a little... further...!" I motivated myself.

Time was running out. She could let go at any second. "Uh...ugghh!" Thea groaned, struggling to retain her grip with just the segments of her fingers.

"...C'mon...!" I pushed myself.

I had my hand on top of hers, but just enough to get her fingers. I needed more surface. I made my final push, but her fingers had just given up.

She had let go.

"AAAHHH!" she yelped.

"NO!"

I leaped out, accelerating faster that she could fall.

"DANNY!" The Crew called.

Miracle struck when I caught her wrist with my right hand in midair. And in reflex, I caught the steel support frame with my left. We were both hanging off the edge, swinging slowly back and forth to the steady wind.

"Jesus Christ!" Price exclaimed.

"Arrgh..." I moaned out of agony. My arms felt like they were about to be torn from my body.

"Danny, you okay?" Thea shouted through the wind.

"Yeah!" I replied, giving my all to hold the both of us up.

I heard someone crawl onto the desk above me. "Danny! Thea!" Geronimo hollered.

"Geronimo!" I gave out a sigh of relief. "Hurry; move the desks here and at the next window. I'm gonna try to swing her up."

"I need help moving these desks!" he requested help from the others.

Meanwhile, I had to lose some of the weight. "Thea!"

"Yeah?" she answered.

The wind blew stronger and deafened my ear. "If I'm gonna make this work, we have to shed some weight!"

"How do we do that?"

"You have to drop your rifle!"

"WHAT?" That SCAR was her most beloved weapon.

"We'll loose three or four kilos! If I swing you while you're holding it, my hands will lose grip because of the extra momentum!"

"I can't do that! You gave this to me, remember?"

How could I forget... That was the SCAR-L I gave her a few months back. "It was from my D.C. Retreat Estate," I reminded myself.

She nodded. "This is YOUR gun. To me it's something special that I don't want to lose."

"But you have to let go of it!"

She took a moment to think. "We'll salvage it right after we get out of this mess. If we're lucky, you get to keep another scratch from this adventure," I assured.

She looked at her gun. I gave her a moment to relive the times it shared with us. "It's now or never, sis!" I reminded her that we're out of time.

She closed her eyes tight and frowned. She looked away in disdain and released the Belgian rifle's grip. It fell straight down; it's sling flailing around by turbulence. She stared at it all the way and it made me feel guilty having to make her do something like that.

"Danny!" Geronimo called me. "Ready?"

I looked down upon Thea. "Ready Thea?"

She switched her attention back at me. "I'm ready."

"On three, I'll swing you to Geronimo." She nodded in acknowledgement. "Here we go..."

I swung her forwards a little before swinging her back. Momentum was at max level during the first big swing.

"One!"

I added more energy to the second. "Two!"

In the third swing, I pulled my arm in and Thea was closer to the edge where Geronimo was. He caught her free left arm and held onto it as hard as he can.

"Gotcha!" Geronimo exclaimed. He quickly pulled her sister up to safety and she crawled over to help me up.

"Give me your hand!" she said. I reached up as she reached her hand for mine, got a firm grip of my wrist, and she pulled me up. I crawled away from the edge and propped myself up with the moved desk.

"To be honest, that was scary," she said. Thea gave us pats on the shouder with a smile and said; "Thanks guys."

The rest of us had finished picking themselves up after being disoriented and dazed after the powerful 'earthquake'. We checked on each other in case any of us were injured.

"Crew, are you guys okay up there?" Hussein radioed.

"We survived," Geronimo replied. "We're trying to find a way down."

"Copy. Stay safe up there."

"Ten-four."

"Alright, so how are we gonna get down from here?" Trap said.

Nicky peered down from the window. "If we're gonna rappel down, I don't think any of us have that much rope," she said.

"What about the ladder in the elevator shaft?" Benjamin suggested.

"There's a ladder in the shaft?" Pamela questioned.

"Every tall building's got one. All the way down."

"But we can't get to it since the elevator's blocking our only entrance to the shaft," Geronimo said. "And I don't see how we can get to the ladder from the elevator's roof hatch."

Colette hummed and stroked her chin as she brainstormed. She suddenly snapped her fingers in inspiration. "Guys, I think I have a crazy idea," she said.

"In this situation, everything that can work is accepted," I said

"We use ze elevator."

"How? There's no electricity," Violet pointed out.

"We can pry ze doors open and step in, then let Danny use ze Force to lower us slowly down ze tower."

We all paused to consider it. "It might work, but we don't know how much damage the tower took," Paulina said. "The shaft might be cracked right now."

"I'll let Max scan the building," Benjamin offered. "He has the ability to tune his sonar beep to waves that can penetrate solids like nuclear radiation."

"Speaking of the guy, where is Max?" Trap wondered.

We looked around, but the little drone was nowhere to be seen or heard. Then, the whizz that came from his four propellers grew louder, and he appeared from the southwest direction.

"Sorry, I took control of him for a while," Pinky apologized.

"What did you find, Eyes?" I said, looking at Max.

"The shaft didn't sustain any damage and it's still safe to descend in. But not for long; I saw a crack just thirty centimeters from where the shaft is."

"Then we better hurry," Geronimo stressed. "Get that door open."

We attended to the elevator door. It looked solid with its reflective metal finish. "Anyone have something to wedge it with?" Pandora asked.

Pamela reached into her backpack and drew out a crowbar, arching an eyebrow and smirked. She thrusted the flat end into the gap of the doors and wiggled the crowbar sideways, separating them. Nicky and Violet promptly pulled both doors to make the gap wider for us to go through. "Get in," Geronimo instructed.

"I'll fly Max outside to keep a lookout on the tower," Pinky said.

We stepped inside, slow and steady to make no sudden moves. "We need to cut the cable, I can't push us down with the weights pulling us up," I stated.

"Give me a boost," Violet requested. Colette interlocked her fingers and boosted Violet up, then she opened the hatch. Getting a pair of wire cutters from her defusal kit, she cut the cables that suspended the elevator and I caught it with the Force as soon as the final cable snapped. The elevator jolted a bit. Violet made her way down.

"Take us down, Danny. Gently," said The Crew's leader.

I lowered us with the doors gaping open. The control room disappeared from view upwards, replaced with dark grey wall of the elevator shaft. "Specter One to Crew, found a way down yet?" Hussein radioed.

I set up a private and secure radio channel for us and them. "We're coming down the elevator using Danny's Force powers, we should be there in about a couple of minutes," Geronimo informed.

"Affirmative."

Just after half a minute, we were halfway where the tower was struck with mine-clearing ammunition. Just when everything was going so well so far, the elevator unexpectedly jerked. I stopped as soon as we felt it.

"What was that?" Benjamin squeaked.

"Eyes?" Geronimo demanded.

"A piece of the tower just fell and we've got wind speeds blowing from northeast that can bring the tower to a collapse," Pinky reported. "You've got to move FAST."

"Hang on, Crew," I gave a heads up. I moved us down with more speed yet with more caution; I didn't want to hit the walls of the shaft.

We neared the spot where the tower was hit. But time wasn't on our side; I felt a slight shift in my center of gravity. Keeping calm, I didn't move. "The tower's swaying," I said.

"I feel it too," Thea shared the same concern.

"Crikey! Tower's going down," Archer exclaimed.

"It's really swaying now, guys," Pinky said, sounding intense. "You haven't got much time!"

"Crew, get out of there!" Price pressured.

"Almost there...!" I muttered.

We passed the crack in the nick of time, taking just a tick on the clock. We saw through it and got a glimpse of the outside just for a split second. We glanced at it briefly as we hoped for safety.

"Towers collapsing..." Pinky informed. "EVERYONE BRACE YOURSELVES!"

The tower's steel beams snapped and bent and its concrete structure crumbled and turned into dust. In a screeching, ear-hurting sound from the bending steel that changed into a lower tone moan that grew louder. Outside, the sound reverberated throughout he airport grounds and it finally collapsed like a tree with a boom. Dust and rubble rose up into the air and engulfed the whole area with clouds of debris.

Moments of silence went by as I tried to reconnect to our radio channel. "We made it, we made it pass the danger zone," I announced.

"Thank God..." Hussein sighed in relief.

"Good to hear..." Price said. "We'll see you back down."

"Attention all call signs, Northern Division Two has successfully liberated Objective Five," Geronimo announced. "Progressing to Objective Six. What's everyone's statuses?"

"This is Southern Division One, eliminating Tangos in final areas of Objective Two, over," replied the division leader

"Southern Division Two, we're pushing the Tangos back to ze west end of Objective Four, standby for updates," said another division leader.

"Northern Division One, we are facing heavy enemy resistance at Objective Six," ricochets were followed, "we are nearly dry on ammo and we require immediate assistance."

"Affirmative. We'll be there ASAP."

We exited the building through where we came in and paced back to our trucks except for Thea and I. "Into your trucks! Division One needs our help!" Geronimo commanded.

"LET'S MOVE IT, MEN!" Price hacked.

Thea and I circled to where her rifle fell. "Take the wheel, G," she said. "Meet me and Danny at the gates."

"We'll see you there," he replied.

They had their engines fired up, troops mounted behind the guns, and they rolled out to the next objective; Terminal 1.

Meanwhile, Thea and I found where the SCAR had landed; next to the crashed Seahawk. She picked it off the grass and brushed some of the dirt of, then inspected it. It looked badly damaged; it had heavy scratches on the right side of the receivers. "Magnifier scope broken off, holo sight cracked, rear flip-up iron sights snapped..." she analyzed. She pulled the charging handle and a round ejected out. "Rounds eject well..." She took out the magazine and put it back in. "Magazine doesn't malfunction... You think it still fires, Danny?"

"I wouldn't try that..." I said.

She aimed it in the air with one arm and looked away. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" She shot a round.

"Holy crape!" I suppressed my swearing. I was glad it didn't misfire.

"Well, now we know it fires and cycles well."

I smiled and shook my head. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

**2224 hours**

Geronimo picked us up then Thea took over the wheel. We caught up to the front of the convoy as we approached Terminal 1.

"Eyes, where's the division now?" Geronimo asked.

Pinky pulled up a diagram of Terminal 1 and displayed it in our HUDs. "They're in a standoff just halfway through taking the objective. They're having trouble pushing forward due to heavy enemy arms and most of the Tangos are perching on a vantage point on the terminal's arrivals level. They have only taken Satellite buildings 3, 2, 1, 7, and 6. All artillery units are still deployed and we have fifteen reported friendly casualties. Three UAAVs destroyed out of nine."

Thea drove us north on the road that connected to the airfield tarmac. We approached Satellite 1, taking shortcuts by going under the parked planes still connected to the gate bridges. At the scene, there were Technologists bodies lying dead everywhere. Lots of them. Mostly from behind cover on the tarmac and some can be seen inside through the broken windows of the building. So were the other Satellite buildings ND1 had liberated. At Satellite 1, our specs started to identify corpses from our faction.

"It's not like you don't see these every other day," Roach commented as a soldier.

"You have served zis country well, fallen _soldeurs_..." Colette mourned.

We were exposed at an open area of the tarmac where The Technologists had a clear line of sight of us. The shooters at the upper level of the terminal spotted us, and then we were fired upon, but most of the shots missed.

Thea twisted the wheel and the six-wheeled pickup truck swerved to the right. "The Crew's gonna circle around Satellite 7, we cant risk our teammates in the back getting shot."

"We'll meet at Satellite 6," Price responded.

We were separated from our group and we drove all the way to behind Satellite 7. We saw our troops shooting from inside the building towards Satellites 5 and 4. We saw our tanks moving slowly while several soldiers followed behind it as cover. An RPG warhead flew over us from the right. We saw French APCs and other country's Gurkhas' guns being fired rapidly. The French tanks also provided places to hide as the machine guns fired forward.

We had arrived behind Satellite 6 where the others had already been dropped off and began fighting. I saw Banshee with Terra firing their front miniguns to suppress enemies.

We disembarked from Krieger and met up with 141 Alpha at the back of Satellite 6, where the frontline was. He was shooting his SCAR-H in single shots with his teammates by his side. The Crew except Thea, Geronimo and I joined his fight.

We kept close to the building since bullets were coming from the tower. "What are we looking at, Bravo Six?" Geronimo asked.

Price switched magazines. "We've only been here for 20 seconds and we've got a major Charlie Foxtrot in our hands," he suppressed his vulgarity. "We've got Tangos at Sierra 5 keeping us pinned, and Tangos over Sierra 4 shooting at friendlies at Sierra 7. And above all, those bastards camping inside Terminal 1."

"Do we have a clear shot at them from here?"

An explosion from Roofjet's airstrike roared. "No. They're at the far side of the terminal and they have a clear shot at us. With them suppressing us, we can't return fire." Price aimed his weapon and fired it.

Geronimo turned to Thea and I. "Right, this is what's going to happen. We get the other squads to deploy their UAAVs to give us a lift to the arrivals level and take out the Tangos preventing the advance. The rest will stay on the ground and provide cover as we fly up and while we're up there. We'll cover the ones down here right after."

"Get to it!" Price shouted, resuming to shoot. "MOVE FORWARD!" His squadmates ran for cover up front.

Geronimo nodded at Thea and she knew what to do. "Attention all nearby callsigns, I need eleven UAAVs at my twenty. NOW."

Eleven random teams deployed their assault drones. The pilots flew their drones cautiously by swiftly maneuvering them side-to-side to avoid being shot down. The drones appeared from all directions, flying low towards us at the time of arrival.

"Crew! Rally on me!" Geronimo hollered to the others.

They made their retreat and saw the drones hovering a few feet above our height. "What was the plan again?" Trap asked.

"We've got campers up at Terminal 1 and they're blocking our advance," I briefed. "We're flying up there with these and take them out, then provide cover for our men down here as they move forward."

"Fly?" Violet asked in disbelief.

"I hate it as much as you do, Violet," Geronimo admitted. Violet wasn't always fond of heights.

"Alright, pilots. Listen closely," Thea looked into the drones' cameras. "You're gonna fly us up to the terminal's arrivals level so we can take out the campers up there. Stay with us until we request to fly down." Then she spoke in her mic, "Attention all nearby callsigns, The Crew is about to fly up the terminal to take out those campers. All troops are to provide cover while we're airborne."

"Grab on." I jumped and caught one of the drone's framework and it lost stability when gravity pulled me down. They were solid titanium. The rest followed (Trap's drone had to lower its altitude and pick him up). Paulina slung her Barrett and hopped on.

Our feet were off the ground by a few inches. "ALLEZ! ALLEZ!" Thea told the pilots.

"EVERYONE COVER THE CREW!" Hussien bellowed into the comms.

We flew forwards and upwards, taking off smoothly past the roof of Satellite 6. All gunfire from the ground was directed to the enemies for suppression. I witnessed the battle silently from a bird's-eye view as we gained more altitude.

From where we were to where we were headed was roughly 400 meters. We were completely exposed but still unseen, and we had a lot more distance to cover. The odds of being spotted were 50-50 with the darkness as our cover, but the noise from the rotors could give us away.

Thirty ticks flew by on the clock, and we had another hundred and fifty meters to the terminal for a head-on assault. At the same time, the ground enemy troops were just below us by fifty metres to the right.

"You think they can see us?" Trap looked down.

That was when one of Trap's impact grenades fell from his loose elastic-strap grenade holder and the safety pin got snagged at the worst moment. It detonated upon impact on the tarmac close to the enemies fifty meters later.

"They can _now_!" Thea answered.

Bullets whizzed pass our ears from The Technologists below. "Return fire!" Geronimo ordered.

We aimed with just one arm and sprayed rounds randomly to the grounded enemies. We were slightly under fire at first, but it turned fierce seconds later. We had a couple of close calls when one of the enemy shots missed us and the drones by inches.

"We're under heavy resistance, I need their fire redirected away from us!" Geronimo fired in steady bursts to minimize ammo wastage.

"We need more firepower!" Hussein said.

"MAIN BATTLE CANNONS ARE AUTHORIZED!"

The staggering explosions from the tanks' 120 mm cannons shook both the tarmac and the air. They chanted four times and it blew most of The Technologists away from inside the two satellite buildings. Rubble and debris fell with dust from the building structure as parts of them collapse.

50 meters to the windows, the tank fire successfully diverted enemy's attention away to our men. Oddest thing is, the glass hadn't been shot out of yet. We saw the campers inside through the windows about thirty meters from the glass.

"This is it! Drones and Crew, fire at the glass!" Geronimo commanded.

We pointed our muzzles towards the tempered glass and shot some holes into them, so did the drones.

Yes, they did not break; they only cracked.

The campers quickly took notice of us and returned fire. We almost emptied our magazines to desperately get the pieces to fall apart, but apparently shooting it like hell didn't seem to work. The turrets made the drones lose stability from the recoil but not enough to screw up the flight path. Trust me, having hot spent shells being ejected to your skin is NOT fun.

"BRACE!" Thea yelled.

We brought our knees up and shielded our faces with our arms. We crashed through separate windows individually (because we shot about eleven windows), turning the pieces into a million bits, and entered the terminal. We spotted the campers ahead with the SFDS (Smart Faction Detection System).

"MOW 'EM DOWN!" Thea hacked.

Still with the drones, they joined us in ambushing them. Our weapons' flashes lit up the terminal as we stormed the place. We landed behind some solid cover with a roll as close as 25 meters and engaged them with the drones. We we're outnumbered if we didn't count the drones, because there were 20 of them against us. But nonetheless, with precision aim and accuracy, we killed every single one in less than a minute.

"All clear?" Geronimo kept his aim still.

Colette took a brief look around. "Clear!" she declared.

"Into positions."

We stepped out of cover. Our primaries were still smoking hot and they were ready to shoot more. We crept over the bodies of the dead enemies and scanned the area if there were to be more.

"Pandora, Trap, Outback, Benjamin, and Colette are on me, Satellite 4," Geronimo split us into teams. "The rest take Satellite 5. Drones, standby."

"Copy that," Thea acknowledged.

We took our positions at the windows the enemies camped at and set up shop. "Anyone low on ammo? Prof Philips packed me my cloner just in case," I offered.

"I'm left with three mags," Benjamin said. I brought the device out of my shoulder pouch and threw it over to him.

"What've we got, Vi?" Thea asked. Our teammates who took Satellite 4 had began shooting.

She scoured down with her binoculars. "Five bogies, eleven o'clock," she said.

I took the first one out, Thea had the one behind him, Pamela with a headshot, Paulina shot two targets.

"Four Tangos, baggage carts to the right."

Violet took her shot, Thea confirmed her kill, I killed one in the neck, and Pamela took three shots to her target's abdomen.

"Rooftop sniper, far side, twelve o'clock."

He was at the far end of the building's roof, aiming at where 141 was. We were outranged except Paulina. She aimed at his head and pulled the trigger.

Out of the darkness, we saw tracer rounds being fired at us; hitting the ceiling above us. "Fall back, we've been made!" Thea commanded.

"No need!" I waved my hand up and deflected the rounds with the Force.

"I see 'em, twelve o'clock at the windows," Pamela spotted. We sprayed them with lead and switched magazines.

"Under the boarding gates, eleven o'clock," Violet alerted. We gunned them down, and there was no other Technologist troop that stood alive according to the SFDS.

"See any more?" I asked Violet.

"Negative, Sierra 5 is clear," she answered.

We saw friendlies below advancing towards Satellite 5 in groups. Terra, Veyronica, and Anton drove to the most front position, while the APCs and tanks moved together with our troops; acting as cover. Satellite 4 had some mild resistance over the friendlies, but I expected that Terminal 1 will be another one of their lost causes.

"What's the next move, Geronimo?" Thea turned over to her brother.

"Seems that we have to fly back down." He inserted a fresh magazine into his M4 and cocked it. "The friendlies nearest to us have no trouble advancing; it's the one on the far side of the Satellite building."

"Let's hop on!" I said.

We rode on the drones back out and went to join 141 and the Specters.

The battle for Terminal 1 raged on. As we were airborne, we saw explosions from kerosene tanker trucks parked beside Airbuses at Satellite 4. An enemy rocket flew from The Technologists' side of the field with a trail of smoke and hit a part of Satellite 5. We managed to not get in between the crossfire and flew behind Satellite 5 just as we got to it.

Satellite 5 offered the most cover spaces provided by a maze of filled luggage carts and abandoned vehicles. We landed with the drones in the middle of the maze and made our way towards the frontline where we met up with Roach and his squad. I even spotted Terra and a couple of tanks being in front.

"Roach, talk to us," I began upon touchdown. He and his teammates were behind some carts.

He was aiming down the sights of his Barrett REC7 rifle. "Their numbers are going down rapidly by the minute." He shot a few rounds. "We're trying to flank them from the left and see if we can flush them out to the right, where we're shooting at."

"Have you tried drawing them out?" Geronimo asked.

"Done that, but they prefer to keep themselves hidden in the buildings." A stream of bullets hit his cover.

A voice came through the comms. "We've infiltrated ze building! We are pushing them back to ze rear entrances, be ready to shoot them down," the voice informed.

"Affirmative," Roach signaled us to come forward, and we approached him. "Alright, I need you to shoot at those jet bridges at 12 o'clock. They'll be coming out from that end of the building like bats outta hell."

"What's the distance between us and them?" Thea asked.

"More than a hundred meters, I reckon." The Crew took their positions and aimed.

I knew Thea's sight was out-ranged. I had to swap weapons with her. "Thea," I called.

"Hmm?"

I held out my battle rifle. "Use mine. You won't aim right with that cracked holo and no magnifier."

"What about you?"

I made a smug face. "I trust my eyes."

She smiled back, and we swapped our primaries.

"Everyone keep those eyes open; they're gonna backup the hostiles in front of us!" Soap commanded.

While the others shot at the troops who were already there, we camped at any spot that granted us a clear line of fire; a bit to the outside from the building in between the links of the luggage carts, the legroom of the door-less baggage handlers, and Paulina was proning on the inclined hood and windshield of a Ford Transit panel van with her anti-materiel rifle on the roof. The hundred meters in front was complete darkness to our eyes; nightvision helped solve it. Ricochets were still coming from the window shooters but our troops in the building were taking care of it.

We spotted the first wave of enemies as they frantically retreated to the outside. They were completely exposed with nothing around them to hide behind.

Trap took his first shot, followed by the rest of us on the site. All rifles were set to semi-auto, machine guns fired in short bursts, and the autonomous cars helped mow down a few of them with the tank gunners.

"We've got hostiles ten o'clock, under the aerobridges," said Meat.

"I have eyes," a French sniper said, and took the shot.

The wave grew large and on separate parts of the building. They were starting to find some vehicles to take cover from.

"Right side, behind parked vans but I'm too busy," Rook spotted.

"I can't get a clear shot, get outta my line of sight," said an Australian gunner to his teammate.

The building was emptied out by the second. "They're driving themselves out, we're going to clear the building," an Italian trooper updated.

The Technologists had spread themselves to cover our whole front. Our one o'clock was getting packed for the vans were their cover.

"I need someone to cover the right!" Price requested.

"I can't get a good angle on them, I'm moving over." Nicky went to defend the right.

Then a bunch of hostiles escaped through the top floor glass and landed on the jet bridges. "Top floor, they're escaping through the glass and getting a vantage point on the bridges," Violet spotted.

"Greyhawk, Pandora, and Tracer; you girls take care of them!" Geronimo pulled his trigger vigorously.

"Solid copy," Thea responded. The three aimed up and shot them down.

Then the left side began to get more busy. "Ten o'clock, they're coming out from the hole we blew up in large groups," said one of the Canadians.

"Get some forty Mike-Mikes over and light 'em up!" Soap ordered. The grenade launchers were brought out and into the fight.

Meanwhile, I was enjoying myself using Thea's SCAR-L. The muzzle brake she installed made the rifle kick less and my shots were deadly accurate. "I like the buffs you did to this rifle, Tracer!" I complimented. "I'm landing every shot!"

"It's either the strong kick on your gun that's making me screw up or those guys are proning up there," she replied. "I can't get a good shot, they're hiding pretty good."

"So am I," Pandora admitted.

"Only got one or two," Paulina said.

"We need an RPG to destroy those bridges!" Roach bellowed.

"I'm on it!" Pamela had it loaded and shouldered it. "STAND CLEAR!" She launched the rocket with a loud bang and it flew off leaving a cloud of smoke behind; and it hit directly on one of the bridges, making it collapse.

"TROOPS STAND CLEAR!" Nicky warned. The nearest ones to her fled and and she fired the rocket. It demolished the bridge to the left, and made the enemy shooters on top suffer in the rubble.

"We've got more at the right-hand side! Don't let them flank us," Soap said. That was never going to happen because they'd be too exposed if they move more to the right.

But, there were other problems coming from the right. Full metal jacket rounds started hitting our cover in sprays, too many to be from just one gun.

"I do not have eyes on who is shooting us!" Colette said.

"I'll cover you." Paulina aimed her rifle to the direction the shots were coming from. "We've got machine guns suppressing us; four of them are LMGs, one's a mounted M2 .50 cal on an armored car. Spread at least five meters from each other."

"Troops at the right, apply pressure on them and take them out!" Price hacked. "We can handle the ones in front-"

The thunderous sound of what seemed to be a sniper rifle shook the atmosphere and a bullet hit the shoulder of one of our troops not a second after. He fell to the ground and screamed in agonizing pain.

"WE'VE GOT A MAN DOWN!" a Bundeswehr soldier alerted.

"GET HIM INTO COVER!" Geronimo said. Two of the downed soldier's teammates pulled him safely to behind a tall van.

"Where the hell did that come from?!" Archer wondered.

"The LMGs are a diversion!" Pinky radioed in. "They're distracting you from getting the snipers on the roof!"

"I see 'em!" Archer switched to his M200 Intervention and shot a bullet through the enemy sniper's head.

"The other one's mine," Paulina claimed. She pulled the trigger on her Barrett. "Kill confirmed!"

"Take out those MGs!" I said.

Five snipers including Paulina and Archer themselves took aim of each gunner over a hundred meters away. All five shots were fired with the bangs standing out louder than the other firearms there. Immediately, the hailstorm stopped and the right flank applied pressure towards there.

The battle was turning for the worse despite our succeeding efforts in retaking the final building. No one had sensed the danger until it was too late.

"RPG!" A British soldier shouted.

"Alpha Six, it's aiming at you! GET OUTTA THERE!" Meat analyzed.

"MOVE-" Anderson's last words before getting cut off while attempting to flee forwards...

...by a speeding RPG.

It detonated right in front of the baggage carts where Alpha Six was hiding behind, and the blast mortally damaged the cover; blowing it away along with Alpha Six. Miraculously the Irish squad survived the blast and ran into cover behind a nearby Mercedes Sprinter in front of the line, parked alone and on its own. It didn't fit all of them, though.

Amidst the chaos, Finlay was the only one who ran back behind the line. He watched his squadmates being targeted and suppressed; unable to make a run elsewhere or to return fire. He wanted to help them. He then spots another van to the left, parked 50 meters from where he was and from where Alpha Six were.

"I'm gonna try to get to that van; someone cover me," Finlay requested.

"Don't be an idiot, Finlay!" Anderson disapproved.

"I already am one!" Finlay bolted off. He sprinted across the stretch of tarmac and bullets were buried at the very ground he stepped on. We fired on for his sake, and he reached the van without a scratch and entered it. He hotwired the van in a second since the keys were gone, and the engine came to life.

He promptly shifted it in reverse and hit the gas. The moment he drove away, The Technologists had began shooting the van.

He had covered 30 meters. Finlay's situation was already looking bleak but it grew dire. One of the rounds that the van took through its windshield struck Finlay's kneecap.

"AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!" His howls of pain pierced through the glass and into our comms.

"FINLAY!" I called out.

The bullet he took rendered his right leg useless. His van rolled to a stop as he was recuperating, holding back the injury while it ached. Blood gushed out of the wound and his pants soaked it all up. He couldn't press the throttle with his left foot because his right was on top of it, and attempting to move it will cause more pain.

"Finlay, can you move?!" McCormick demanded.

"No...!" he grunted.

"Hold on! We're coming in to get ya," Soap assured.

"Guys," Finlay began in a hopeless tone, "I don't think I'll be able to make it back..."

"You WILL make it out of this alive, you here me?!" Anderson let off some suppressive shots.

"It's been a great run for me with you all... Thanks for the good times, lads."

"Finlay, we're getting you out of there!" Geronimo said.

"And Agent Geronimo Stilton... Thank you for calling us for help. You've let me fight the most epic battles in my entire life."

Thea had been suppressing the right. "That's it, I'm getting him outta there," Thea said.

"Thea, NO!" I said, but she went out anyway.

"Cover me!" She dashed away.

Between Thea and the van was roughly 70 meters of tarmac. She had to be fast to get to him before The Technologists do.

"Heh... never thought I'd go down like this..." Finlay said.

"NO YOU'RE NOT! Hang in there, Finlay!" one of his teammates denied.

"I just have one last request..."

Thea was 55 meters and closing.

"Tell my fiancée, Betty..."

35 meters and closing.

"...I love her..."

"RPG!" Hussein spotted.

I saw where it aimed. Finlay. "THEA, GET OUTTA THERE!"

It was too late. The shooter squeezed the trigger and the rocket launched. It sped towards the van, giving Finlay just enough time for his life to flash before his eyes.

The rocket made direct contact with the van's front right quarter, resulting in an explosion that totaled the van in a huge, bright orange fireball and killed Finlay on the spot. The blast shook the tarmac and the atmosphere, blowing everything near away.

"THEA!"

She was knocked back hard by the shockwave with her arms shielding most of her face, dragged on the tarmac violently for several meters with a few barrel rolls. She laid on the tarmac on her side; tiny bits of rubble all around her. The rifle I lent her was right above her head.

I was petrified for a second. I looked at her in horror. A chill ran down my spine. She wasn't moving. She didn't show any signs of life. Was she badly injured? Did she fall unconscious? Was she even alive? The questions that terrified me most kept running into my mind that made me panic under sudden shock. But all I knew then was...

... I needed to get to her.

I wasted no time and vaulted over cover. I ignored everything and everyone around me. Price who tried to pull me back in by the shoulder was denied as I threw his hand away. A FÉLIN team member caught me and restrained my arms as he pulled me back. I pushed him away. I sprinted to her. I wielded her SCAR-L left-handed and fired at The Technologists to suppress them. I deflected the incoming rounds as I ran. The rest of The Crew followed behind to stop me but they ended up covering for me. Other voices calling out my name were muffled out by my mind, so I can only hear my voice shouting out to Thea.

"THEA!"

I threw myself into a slide, arriving at Thea's side on my knees. I laid the SCAR down and flipped her on her back. Small pieces of shrapnel hit her during the blast, indicated by the small metal pieces stuck on the outer layer of her clothes and small wounds that bled out on her snout. Her ears were bleeding from the explosion. I checked her pulse under the neck, and I was glad it was there but it felt weak. She _looked_ weak. No, she looked _hurt. Badly._

I formed a protection bubble around us and our teammates. I shook her body lightly to get her awake. "Thea!" I called out. I saw her respond when she could only squint, telling by the sparkle of her purple eyes to the light of the fire. "Thea, wake up! Thea!" This time, no response. I started to tear up. "Thea, please! I need you... We all need you..."

I took her hand and gripped it tight. "You're the closest thing I have to my sister... I can't lose you! Not again...

"Don't leave me to live alone, Thea..."

But then I felt something. The grip. She responded to my grip and tried to tighten it! But she couldn't do it. She was too weak to even move her fingers. But I was grateful that she wasn't leaving.

"Thea?" I called another time softly.

I saw her put on a faint smile and squinted. "I'm not going anywhere, Danny," I heard her reply in a soft groan.

I etched a smile and cried tears of joy. I brought my head closer to her paw. "Thank God... I thought I was gonna lose you..."

She turned her head slightly towards the burning van. She closed her eyes in remorse and a teardrop rolled down her cheek. "They killed Finlay..." she said.

I looked at the van too. Rage filled my soul at an instant. "Sons of tomcats... I'll make them pay..."

I raised my left hand up and it felt shaken; my right still in Thea's grasp. I identified who was the grenadier and took control of his mind with The Force.

"There he is! Top floor window," Roach pointed out. "What's he doing?"

I made the grenadier drop the RPG and pick up a nearby L86 LMG. I made him shoot his own teammates.

"What are you doing?" I heard a hostile say. I shot him in the head.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" said another hostile behind me. I gunned him and four others down.

"HE'S GONE ROGUE!" another troop alerted. I took him down along 9 others.

Then, I had him to pick up the launcher and go to the rear end of the building, making him launch several rockets to his own faction.

The hostile count went down to ten. To finish it off, I un-holstered his pistol and made him shoot his own head.

The others told me about how dark I could be at times like this.

"They're retreating! MOVE UP! MOVE UP!" Price shouted. He and his team bounced out from from their cover and charged.

"We're gonna come back for you, Finlay..." Anderson promised. "MOVE OUT!"

"Crew, tend to your injured squad member," said Soap. "We'll rendezvous at Sierra 4."

Meanwhile, The Crew and the Specters regrouped around Thea and I, as well as Taureau and Krieger.

"Let me guess, kiddo, that was you?" Kassim asked.

"Those _putain de merdes_ deserved it," I said.

Colette jolted her head back in revolt. "Language!" she scolded.

Geronimo crouched down. "Can you move?" he asked.

"I may need help, might've broken a rib or two," she grunted.

"I got 'cha." I put myself into a crouch and wrapped her arm around my neck. She managed to sit up and stand with a painful hiss on the way up. I walked her towards Krieger's truckbed. Nicky picked our guns up and followed us.

"Danny, you get her patched up," Geronimo requested. "Pamela, take the wheel."

"Where to?" she asked.

An incoming transmission went through the comms. "Objective complete, Terminal 1 has been liberated," said the voice at the other side.

"To get Julie back..." Geronimo answered.

* * *

**2249 hours**

We were about to move. Some of the squads who cleared Satellite 4 closed in on us in their armored vehicles just as we were rolling out.

"Attention all callsigns, whomever's completed their objectives shall proceed to Objective 7," Pinky reminded.

"Roger that," Price replied on 141's behalf.

"What are we dealing with, Eyes?" Geronimo wondered.

A satellite feed up on the passenger's dashboard. "Looks like they've set up a perimeter on three sides of the building; north, east, and west. Ten guys each with a ten-meter spread, four roof snipers covering each side."

"What about the office buildings at the south of the hangar?"

"Filled. Every floor, every hallway, every corner. I'm talking about _at least_ sixty hostiles."

"Ze Southern Division can launch a surprise attack on ze Air France office," the Colonel offered. "Northern Company meanwhile can storm ze front and sides and clear ze hangar."

"Given that once your division has cleared the building, you'll jump the Tangos on the hangar from behind," Geronimo said.

"Exactly what I was thinking."

"If your division locates the hostage first assuming that she's in the office, secure her and extract her ASAP."

"On ze contrary, maybe your squad will be ze one to get to ze hostage first. Be advised, we have 141's undercover informant inside giving us intel zat ze hostage is in a small office inside ze _hangar._ When your forces infiltrate, it'll get every Tango in there to go and stop you, so he will protect Julie from inside ze office as you get to her."

"How many do you think are inside the hangar, according to their informant?"

"Fifty, roughly."

I had just finished patching Thea up. "I think we twenty guys can take 'em," I said.

"If you need help, give us a shout," Price stated.

"Much obliged," Geronimo thanked. "Southern Division, spare some of your men to defend the hangar, we're a little short."

"Solid copy, Geronimo," Ghost approved.

"What's your ETA, by the way?"

"Coming about ten seconds."

"Attack the office on arrival. Same goes to Northern Division 1, we storm them on sight."

We had 500 meters until the next objective. They should be expecting us since we didn't disable their comms from the start. "Expect heavy retaliation, ladies and gentlemen; they already know we're here," Geronimo said. "I need four squads on west side, four on east, and the rest are on me." They have set their objectives and four squads had separated from the division to a back road.

400 meters, and we had visual contact. "I have got visual on Tangos," said a Bundeswehr gunner.

"Light 'em up!" Geronimo ordered.

The mounted .50 cals thundered the empty airport once more. For both factions, shots were inaccurate at 350 meters while on the move, but with constant spraying they were all shot dead in half a minute.

"North side clear," Price confirmed. The east side was still filled with gunfire.

"I need the four squads to move to the west side, GO!" Geronimo commanded. The four vehicles overtook us.

"I see contact movement on the roof," I said.

"Must be the sniper," Geronimo presumed. "Greyhawk?"

"Gotcha." She was sitting on the right side and aimed up, with the muzzle right above me and Thea's heads. We had to duck, and Paulina took the shot with a direct hit to the chest area. "Tango down, one E-K-I-A."

"God, that was loud!" I described.

"Let's move in."

We turned left to the road that connected the front hangar doors to the tarmac where the planes get taxied. We faced the gigantic hangar's glass front, closed and dark on the inside. Electricity has been cut off indicated by the dark interior.

We parked and spread our vehicles to form a wall at the front of the hangar. The four autonomous cars were at the outer layer of the front, having their turrets spinning.

All of us disembarked and secured the hangar, some taking our positions behind their armored cars and APCs. Some squads from Southern Division 2 had also arrived. "Price, you take charge out here while The Crew and the Specters clear the inside," Geronimo said to Price. "Defend the hangar when the enemies start coming in."

"Solid copy," Price replied.

"Greyhawk, Adam and Malik - get on the roof with the other snipers and cover the ones down here. You're the best sharpshooters we've got."

"Understood," Paulina responded.

He turned to the rest of us. "Let's go." We followed his lead to the entrance.

Meanwhile, Price had his own strategy. "Right, I want this place fortified! AI cars from Southern Division 2 and Northern Division 1, all of you line up the front. I need eight voluntary gunners and eight drones to rally on me. Anderson, do you need more men on your side?" Anderson had taken the east side.

"We could use more guys, about three squads," Anderson requested.

"Squads Charlie-1, India-3, and Foxtrot-9, move to east side. The three teams rolled out.

The eight gunners and ten UAAVs arrived. "Alright, drones - get these guys on top of the hangar. Gunners, accompany these snipers and cover us from up there. GO!" They hopped on an the drones flew them up. "Northern Artillery 1, I need your ETA."

"Thirty seconds, approaching from ze east side," the artillery division leader replied.

Price turned to east. "Affirmative, I got eyes on you. I need ten guns up front and ten on the east side."

"Wilco."

"Alright AI cars and troops! Take your positions and prepare to stand your ground. It's going to be a hell of a shitstorm here in a couple of minutes."

The Crew had been running the last hundred meters from where we dropped off to the personnel entrance to the left of the hangar while the Specters took right. The transparent hangar doors granted us a glimpse of one of Air France's A380s being in maintenance with scaffolding built all around it. We also detected heat signatures given out by the enemies. They were already prepared to face our assault, seeing them already taking positions on the platforms and taking cover behind some stacked crates and containers that they had brought in in case we ever reached them. There were absolutely no place for us to cover behind. They couldn't see us - it was pitch black, so we kept on running.

We arrived at the glass area we planned to breach. "Violet, you take point," Geronimo commanded. "Everyone stack up on her." We stacked up against the wall, in line behind Violet. "Place the breaching charge."

Violet reached for a breaching charge kept in one of her back pouches. She stuck it to the glass without making a sound. "Specters?" she asked.

"Charge is placed and we're all stacked up," said Hussein.

"Danny, when we breach-"

"Stop the incoming rounds. Got it." I finished his sentence.

"On my go... Now!"

Both team's demolition experts gripped the remote detonator and the charges exploded. The glass shattered and I quickly used the Force as we breached and opened fire. A hail of enemy rounds came in by the hundreds as we moved into our positions, but I stopped them far enough so they couldn't reach us.

"Spread out!" Geronimo yelled.

They were all over us. We saw Tangos coming over from the sides on the ground floor. We shot them down before they broke the Force barrier.

"I can stop bullets, but I can't stop people," I added.

"Watch your sides! If we get flanked, we're screwed," Hussein warned.

We made sure we didn't get flanked by keeping extra alerted on the sides.

Outside, meanwhile, the tanks approached the fort and followed Prices orders. "Alright, I want the artillery guns aimed over to where they came from. Anyone spots an enemy armored car, the tanks will fire their main guns to intercept them." They rolled pass him and took position.

"Price! We've got enemy vehicles inbound from the northeast," Paulina spotted.

He turned to said position. "How many and how far, Greyhawk?"

She had been scoping. "Seven armored, three unarmored... I think about ten people each, five hundred Mikes and closing."

"Attention all callsigns, prepare to engage! Weapons free at four hundred Mikes."

Back inside... "Reloading!" Colette shouted. By then, the bullets I've stopped had piled up along where we stood.

"Cover the right!" Hussein let off some rounds there. The teammates closest to him assisted.

"I see one in the cockpit!" Benjamin pointed at the plane.

Pandora gave him three rounds to the chest. "Tango down," she said.

"LMG eleven o'clock!" Trap marked. Thea, he himself and I got him suppressed behind a tool cabinet.

"If we keep this up, we'll be done in ten minutes!" I estimated confidently.

"Yeah, but what about that?" Pamela stared at a heavily-armored enemy troop that stood on top of the plane, wielding an M60 LMG that had a belt-fed ammunition system that connected to a backpack of some sort. He began to open fire at us.

"The Juggernaut's priority target number one!" Geronimo said. Some of us directed our fire to the Juggernaut, making direct hits that didn't seem to do any damage.

Meanwhile, outside...

"Steady..." Price muttered into his mic. He had been putting the red dot of his optic sight on top of one of the enemy vehicles driving in formation.

His men did the same. The snipers up on the roof and on the ground going prone. Gunners about to unleash long streams of rounds. Riflemen ready to set kill streaks. Scouts marking enemies.

The first vehicle went over the engagement distance. "NOW!"

Every gun at the site thundered and showered the enemy with bullets. Flash from their muzzles lit up the area. Multiple shots to drivers of the unarmored vehicles were their primary target - which was successful as one truck veered away and rolled on the grass after the rounds were delivered into the driver's head.

"Vehicle rolled, ten E-K-I-A," a tank machine gunner called the kills.

Two hundred meters. Hot spent shells with the disintegrated chain links started to pile up beside the mounted guns of tanks and armored cars. The autonomous cars' turrets' barrels started to glow red. Yet, not another enemy vehicle disabled or halted.

Paulina's sniper shots burst the tire of one of the armored cars, but it kept going with run-flat tires.

"Armored's got run-flats, there's no stopping 'em," Paulina reported.

"On the contrary," Price doubted. "ARTILLERY!"

Tank commanders gave orders to their gunners. With spot on aim, one tank cannon blew out ears when it shot an explosive shell - hitting an armored car after a two-second arc. It burst into a fireball.

"Good kill!" Soap commended.

A hundred meters and closing. "Here they come! Give 'em hell!" Price bellowed.

The first wave of Technologists came to battle us. Their vehicles stopped at the end of the stretch of tarmac leading to the hangar. Their men disembarked and fought from behind their vehicles as cover. Their shielded mounted guns blasted .50 caliber rounds towards our faction.

The six mounted .50 cal guns of The Technologists suppressed some of us down. "Snipers! We need these guns taken out!" said British gunner.

Adam Majid had been aiming at a target. "I've got eyes," he responded. He took the shot with two other fellow snipers after him. He pulled the bolt back while Paulina picked another target with Malik Aziz. He shot the last gunner, then they destroyed the mounted guns.

"Tangos down, six E-K-I-A," Paulina said.

"Price, heads up! We've got more inbound," McCormick spotted. "Six vehicles, all armored."

"Ten-four!" Price acknowledged. "Ready the RPGs!"

Meanwhile inside, the Juggernaut still wasn't taken down. "He's too heavily armored!" Benjamin said. "If we keep directing fire at him, we'll get flanked!" The three right and leftmost shooters kept the flankers at bay.

"Danny!" Thea cried out. I turned towards her. "It's show time."

I knew exactly what she meant. I drew out my lightsaber and activated one blade, throwing it towards the Juggernaut in an arc. The saber slashed his abdomen through his armor - emitting sparks as it sliced through. He fell off the plane and landed on the left platform with a hard thud. I made the lightsaber return to my hand and left the blade humming.

"We need to move up!" I suggested. "This fight's taking too long!"

Geronimo thought in a split second. "Danny, push the Force Shield forward! Five at the left and rightmost, we're sweeping the ground. The rest are climbing up that scaffolding!"

"Let's do this!" I bawled. I slowly moved first, stepping over the stopped bullets collected on the floor. Benjamin, Pandora, Thea, and Violet had my back while the rest went their ways.

I climbed up the left stair, seeing one Tango a few feet ahead on the narrow passage just under the plane's right wing. He lunged at me with a bowie knife, tried to slash my throat as I dodged it to the left, turned his back to face me and stabbed him with the lightsaber instead; and pushed him over the railing. We got to a wider area of the platform after passing under the wing; encountering two more, which Violet and Thea tackled down and stabbed them in the heart (Violet had a butterfly knife, keep that in mind). The mouselets shot down four riflemen to the right.

At the right side, Hussein took point. He came across a Technologist with a karambit. The opponent thrusted the blade with his fist at him, but Hussein dodged it and caught the wrist. He punched up the opponent's elbow to break his arm, and flipped him over the railing. He shot the rest of the enemies coming towards him and his teammates.

Geronimo had less to take care of at the ground floor - only 3 people. He encountered an enemy with a 5-foot retractable nightstick ready to give him a beating. When the opponent took the first swing, Geronimo parried the attack and pulled the nightstick away from him as he thrust kicked him in the gut. With his left hand behind his back, Geronimo used the nightstick to hit his opponent's head, jaw, and the side his knee to make him lose his footing. After throwing the weapon away, Geronimo delivered a spinning roundhouse kick directly to the face.

Nicky had been battling the second one near the stairs - her opponent lashing out with a gut knife at her. She dodged everything he threw, disarmed him by crushing his hand against the stair railing, and threw a hard right hook to turn his lights out.

Trap had been blocking his opponent's fists until he got exhausted to the point of fainting. So he backed up, and got a running start towards the opponent with a loud...

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He bellowed.

"Look at Trap Stilton, slithering-" Nicky commentated.

"Whoa, watch out! Watch out! WATCH OUT!" Pamela cut her off.

Trap braked, his right arm wrapped around the Technologist's neck from the front and his left hand on his head - then threw himself down back first.

"OH! RKO OUTTA NOWHERE!" Pamela reacted.

"We're clear! Let's move." Geronimo ran forward under the scaffolding and met up with half of the Specters at the back of the plane.

Meanwhile, the rest of The Crew, the Specters, and I had just finished clearing the rear end of the scaffolding. We saw more Technologists up on the second floor structure at the back of the hangar. We shot down six, and we didn't see any more coming. So we carefully went forward and found a set of stairs, climbing up to the second floor.

Colette took point. She made sure it was clear left and right as we reached the top of the stairs. We spotted the office at the far right, so we head towards it. There was an open doorway leading to the main building behind the hangar and there was one more behind us - Specters at the back made sure there was no enemy doing a surprise attack as we moved up.

"Julie and ze informant should be in there," Colette said.

"Alright, move silently and be alert of your surroundings," Geronimo advised.

We cautiously made our way to the office. The hangar was silent as grave and still as dark as the night. Smell of unburned gunpowder lingered around. I felt something a little off.

"Guys, hold up," I signalled. We stopped, and everyone turned to look at me. "Something's coming."

"Then we can't be around here too long," Geronimo decided. "We have to rush it before they come-"

"Hold it right there," said a Technologist soldier with his other men, coming out of the doorway with their rifles pointed at us. They blocked our path to the office.

We heard some of them marching out from the doorway behind us as well. They had surrounded us - considering the usual options, there were none except to wave the white flag.

"All weapons emptied and on the ground - hands where I can see them," the Technologist instructed.

"What options do we have, G?" Thea asked.

"We don't have any... we do as we're told. Weapons down, Crew!" Geronimo said.

We didn't question his decision. We knew he had something up his sleeve. We dropped our rifles and dumped our pistols from their holsters; raising our hands up.

"Now get on your knees," the Technologist instructed some more.

We didn't, as long as Geronimo didn't. "Danny," he whispered.

"What are you thinking?" I wondered.

"Cyprien-Plage."

I smiled mischievously.

I held the firing pins of the guns back, and the Technologists felt the triggers freeze.

"What the-"

I pulled their guns away and threw them far out all the way to the scaffolding.

"GET 'EM!" Geronimo had just approved a brawl.

We chose our opponent's and fought bare-handed.

Back outside, the battle to defend the hangar had heated up. "Give 'em some suppression over at the left side - my gun's dry!" a Canadian ground sniper hollered.

"Pierre and Diane! I need your guns aimed at that side." Price fired off three rounds.

"Keep those suppressive shots steady! We are running low on ammo," said a GIGN squad leader.

"I need some HMGs focused on one o'clock position-"

"RPG!" The shaped charge flew close over the hood of one of our Gurkhas from the enemy's side, missing some of our men by a few feet and straight to the glass door of the hangar. A brief flash of light was emitted from the blast along with a thunderous clap.

"C'MON! DON'T YOU DARE QUIT ON ME!" A field medic was doing his best to revive a fallen soldier hit in the chest, causing cardiac arrest. He was charging up a defibrillator. "CLEAR!"

"We've got bloody Techs pinning us down!" Soap yelled. "Can we get some retaliation over here?"

"None of us can get a good angle on them!" Meat shot the leg of one Tango exposed under the car. "Greyhawk, you think you can help?"

"I'm kinda busy right now!" She dodged a bullet that whizzed pass her ear, and blasted a round towards where it came from. As other shots from Specters 5 and 6 let off, she said, "We've multiple enemy snipers eastbound on top of a building just at the other side of the highway and we're under fire ourselves." She shot another round. "We got three of the gunners hit in the shoulders, and the rest are going prone and pinned down!" One enemy bullet landed on the roof beside her.

"How are the wounded men?"

"The other gunners got medkits and they're patching 'em up as best as they can." The three snipers shot one round each.

"How the hell are we supposed to get us out of this?!" Soap said.

"Try the drones!" Paulina shot another round. "Do an aerial flank on both sides, that'll distract 'em!" Her eyes widened. "WHOA!" She dived down in time as a pair of .50 cals came towards her face.

"You need help up there?" Price shot some suppressive rounds.

"Yes please!"

"Attention all drone pilots, I want all UAAVs in the air! Prepare for and aerial flank on both sides, and I need six of them flown to a building that's attacking our roof shooters. I'll send the coordinates."

The noise of the drones' rotors started to grow louder from every direction. They hovered over the ground at an altitude just above the Gurkhas' height.

"Drone airborne!"

"Drone airborne!"

"Drone airborne!" Those were the words of the 16 pilots.

"TAKE THE SKIES!" Price hacked.

The drones' rotors whirred louder as they took off. Five veered left, another five flanked left, and the other six flew away east to the enemy sniper nest.

The flanking drones flew in a trail formation, spread by a few meters within each other. When the Technologist soldiers became visible to the drones' cameras, they pivoted towards them and their turrets fired belt-fed 5.56 tracer rounds at 900 rounds a minute. Each. The attackers were alerted of their presence, making them focus their fire on the drones instead.

"RETURN FIRE!" Price shouted. His company poked their barrels out of cover and showered the enemy with armor-piercing rounds.

Once they heard shots coming from the defenders, The Technologists ducked down. The tables had turned. Some of them shot blindly in efforts to hit any of the drones. The pilots swiftly fired on the move; gracefully evading incoming bullets with aerial acrobatics.

Meanwhile, the drones that left to aid the roof marksmen had arrived at the enemy's sniper nest. They had circled around to avoid detection and approached the snipers from behind. The snipers noted about the drones' presence from the noise of their rotors, but it was too late. The snipers only had semi-auto pistols as sidearms, and they tried to shoot them down. With quick succession, the drones eliminated all the snipers and returned to the hangar.

"Price, you've got more enemies inbound, approaching from east. About forty, all in APCs," Pinky notified.

"How many airstrikes do we have left?" Price wondered.

"You've only used two."

"Phantom, deploy your roofjet!" Price ordered. Phantom's roofjet popped upwards and wings extended, taking off with a sonic boom.

As the east troops fought the incoming enemies, the roofjet circled around the northern runway's airspace. It flew straight when it was aligned with the enemy platoon from behind. It locked on the four targets in one second, then launched multiple guided missiles at them. They tailed the APCs for a moment, and then hit right under all of them. The explosions flipped the APCs on their roofs; a sign that we won't be dealing with them even if some had survived.

"Are there more of them coming, Eyes?" Price asked.

"Affirmative, and they're airborne," Pinky said.

"Already?"

"Northern and Southern Division 2 just finished driving out Technologist forces to the west. They're boarding their helos and en route to you as we squeak."

"Look alive, men!" Price said into his mic. "Final phase is in play. Enemy helos are inbound from southeast, ETA is five minutes. I want six drones to fly snipers up to the roof, and all ground units to move up the tarmac for a better line of sight. LET'S GO! GO! GO!"

Back inside, it was the fight to the knockout. Six minutes in, but we were so equally matched to one another, it was turning into a stalemate.

I fought freestyle. My opponent had a size and strength advantage. He delivered two mock punches to intimidate me, a dodged right jab and attempted to do a roundhouse kick which I blocked and it pushed me away a bit. He tried to thrust kick me but I escaped from it, got behind him and swung my leg all the way up to kick my opponent's head with the tip of my boot, spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the chest as he tried to locate me. I kept my distance as he was recovering, and took the advantage to swing a roundhouse kick to his left ribs, but instantly caught a fist to my face. The opponent tried to chop to my head with the ball of his wrist, but both were blocked. Then I quickly ducked for a one-two to his abs, ducked again as he swung a left hook, then did a right jab to his ribs again, and a kick to the kneepit to make him crouch. Finally, I struck my left knee to his face, instantly breaking his nose.

Meanwhile, Thea met her match. They were were in a stance with the legs apart close to each other, waiting for either of them to strike. She eyed his footing, thinking of striking there. She chose to go first with a low roundhouse kick to the calf, but he predicted it and lifted it up. She spun back around just to see the same leg flying at her snout twice, but she swiftly ducked and dodged them. Then he kicked her right kneepit to make her kneel and another to her snout but she shielded it with her arm in time. She got up to give him a high roundhouse kick to the neck but he ducked and used the momentum in the kick against her and pushed her other leg the opposite direction of her spin, making her fall on her back. He tried to stomp her while she was down, but she rolled backwards and got up to see him swing a front kick that she blocked and a one-two that she parried away. Thea gave him a left hook, but the opponent caught her wrist. Then she proceeded with a backwards elbow to his left ribs. With his right wrist in her hand when he dodged her attack before, she took it and spun herself around facing him with charged fist that sprung into his face. He backed away, dazed, so she took the moment to land a backwards thrust kick to his chest and he fell on his back.

Geronimo was doing his best not to get hit. He was in defence mode, trying to get his opponent to run out of steam. The opponent threw a fast series of jabs, hooks, and elbows, which he dodged and blocked through them as he backed up near the wall. He couldn't predict the thrust kick though, and that had him slammed against the wall. Cornered. He saw a fist launching towards is snout, but he ducked just in time. As the knuckles landed and left a dent on the metal wall, Geronimo did a one-two to his sides followed by an uppercut to the chin. The opponent backed up and checked his jaw to see if it was dislocated. Geronimo got into a stance and circled around slowly, which his opponent did the same until the wall was parallel to them. Geronimo charged ahead while the opponent stood and waited. Just as Geronimo got close enough for the opponent to throw a left jab, he jumped toward the wall, jumping off it, and swung his foot to the opponent's face in a wall jump kick.

Trap... was practically invulnerable. Every attack his opponent landed on his abdomen bounced back, even with the armor plates on. "C'mon! That all ya got?" he taunted. The opponent gave his all; punches, elbows, jabs...

He felt _nothing_.

"My turn..." Trap said.

The only thing he threw at the opponent was a heavy, fast, and devastating sucker punch to the nose.

Benjamin was thought to be an easy pick to his opponent. Benjamin threw a punch at the opponent, but he evaded it and circled behind Benjamin. The opponent grabbed Benjamin from behind by the neck and abdomen and lifted him off his feet. Benjamin squirmed for freedom, frantically kicking his legs and wiggling his body. As a last resort, Benjamin chose to bite the arm that caught his neck, and the opponent released him in reflex as he wailed in pain. Benjamin retaliated by throwing jabs at his opponent's sides, high hooks at the jaw and high reverse spinning roundhouse to the neck. Pandora then passes by, had herself on the shoulders of a Technologist and crossing her legs as she pulled up his nostrils in attempt to make him fall.

Colette had been using the attacks thrown at her against her opponent, so the opponent had half of his energy left. She took the opportunity of the pause in attacks to retaliate with a series of fast punches and kicks.

Pamela had been throwing power punches to her opponent. But still, she managed to got hit at times.

Violet had to handle two opponents. She had to fight them from the front and back.

Back at the tarmac, Price's company had just finished setting up the new fortifications on the runway. "Eyes, how much closer are they?" Price asked.

"About one-point-seven-five clicks and closing," Pinky replied.

"Greyhawk, what do you and the others see?"

"Three helos inbound, speed is about a hundred-fifty knots," Paulina reported, looking through her nightvision scope.

"Can any of you take a shot at it?"

"We'll do our best."

"Ten-four. Mark 'em for us, will ya?"

"Affirmative." She marked all three aircrafts, and they were visible for the other soldiers as red outlines in the sky.

The snipers waited it out. They kept their aim still until the helicopters reached the 1.2-kilometer mark. Paulina in her crouching position moved the muzzle of her Barrett according the helicopter's flight path.

"ENGAGE!" Paulina cued.

The snipers' trigger fingers itched and their rifles began to play a symphony that will send you chills down your spine with every shot. Out of tempo, sure, but it was frightening. Three snipers engaging on each helicopter. Some shots hit, and some missed. But even the confirmed hits seemed to only do a miniscule amount of damage. Paulina was constantly going for the pilot, and it was the most effective strategy. She finally landed a bullet to a pilot's chest after three shots, and the heli slowly descended.

"Pilot kill confirmed, I got one helo down," she called her shot.

The remaining helicopters crossed the 800-meter mark. Paulina paused and turned to the gunners. "Gunners, take your best aim and shoot 'em down!" Paulina called.

With the gunners joining the fight, it got pretty loud up there. Paulina's sniper buddies were doing the best they can to bring another chopper down by shooting the pilots like she did. The gunners just sprayed at them with every round they had. Shells dropped, chains disintegrated, and barrels overheated and needed a change. Paulina got tired of crouching and, the four last shots she took couldn't land a hit, so she changed positions to shoot off-hand. A skill that she had that not a lot of shooters possessed.

The choppers closed in at 600 meters. "Nothing's working, bring out the Stinger!" Paulina ordered one of the gunners.

The British gunner reached for the FIM-92 Stinger missile launcher from his back, shouldered it, aimed through its scope and launched the missile. It flew off towards the closest Black Hawk guided by its infrared seeker with a trail of smoke behind it, and it detonated upon impact with the helicopter's tail. It descended fast spinning, and that's when the situation escalated.

The other chopper surpassed 450 meters. A stream of bullets impact the roof surface at random spots. No one was hit, but they were startled. "SCATTER!" Paulina shouted.

Everyone was on their feet and ran for their lives like little ant. The gunners tried to return fire on the move, but proven ineffective. Some of them were gunned down. Some had rounds chasing them and hitting the places where their feet were with every step. Paulina and the two Specter snipers tried sniping on the move.

"WE'RE UNDER HEAVY FIRE!" Adam Malik yelled into his mic.

Price didn't have a visual until then. "I have visual on enemy helo! LIGHT IT UP!" Price and his company opened fire on the helicopter with a lead hailstorm. Every gun at the scene glowed red hot. Spent shells piled up on the tarmac. Literally thousands of rounds fired at the helicopter, but none of them managed to do heavy damage to it. Ammunition reserves were running dry with every reload.

At 300 meters, havok turned into chaos. "ATTENTION ROOF UNITS AND THE CREW, BRACE YOURSELVES!" Pinky warned. "THEY HAVE TARGET LOCK ON THE HANGAR!"

"HELLFIRE INCOMING!" Soap alerted the others.

"GET DOWN!" Geronimo yelled. We immediately went prone and left our opponents clueless.

Every operative on the roof ran the opposite from the center. Just as the final three people made it over 20 meters from the radius, the pilot of the enemy Black Hawk launched the missile. The Hellfire traveled less than than 2 seconds straight in the air, and it dove down as it approached its target. A massive explosion occurred upon impact with a huge fireball rising up and lit up the area.

For us inside, our eardrums nearly ripped from the loud boom the missile emitted. My ears rang and were bleeding. Again. The center of the roof collapsed and rubble destroyed the front half of the Airbus. Dust filled the hangar in an instant and engulfed everything. Our opponents were stunned more than us.

"Use the smokescreen!" Geronimo said.

We turned on thermal vision and located our enemies, confused and coughing. The SFDS highlighted them red. We executed take down moves to shut them down.

Back on the roof, the heli flew over the hangar. The explosion caused a powerful shockwave that threw the troops on the roof away in every direction. Some were sliding on the roof and almost over the edge. The troops on the west and east sides were lucky because those parts of the roof were sloped, and it led to a lower roof level with a 6-meter drop. The north and south sides however, led straight down to the tarmac. Some fortunate soldiers managed to stop in time on the edge, some a bit earlier, but there were some that went over the edge. Like Paulina.

She slid on the roof with her Barrett close. She tried to brake, but she had too much velocity. She quickly rolled from her back to a crawling position. As the Barrett came to a stop, she went over the edge instead. Yet, her reflexes kicked in and made her grab on.

"Need a little help over here!" she cried out.

One of the gunners were nearby and heard the call for help. Someone peeked over the edge and found Paulina hanging. "I gotcha!" he assured. He grabbed her forearm and pulled her up.

The heli meanwhile circled around to attack the ground forces with its side-mounted minigun. It kept circling them as the gunner unleashed his wrath upon the friendlies below.

"It's coming back around! GIVE IT HELL!" Price commanded.

Paulina watched in horror as her newfound teammates were being shot at, helplessly trying to bring it down. She turned to her fellow snipers and gunners; all lying down in agony after being hit with shrapnel and the shockwave.

To Paulina, all of this was personal.

The gunner that pulled her up was the same guy with the Stinger. "Where's your Stinger, soldier?" she asked in a serious tone.

The gunner prepared the Stinger for Paulina and it was ready to fire. She shouldered it and aimed through it's scope, getting a target lock on the enemy helo.

"_Pour mon équipe_," Paulina remarked.

She pulled the trigger and launched the missile. It followed the helicopter with a trail of smoke as it continued circling and firing at the friendlies. The missile hit the tail boom of the Black Hawk, separating it from the body and forced it spinning. Paulina glared at it with hatred and satisfaction as it went down. The helicopter crashed on the dirt and grass in a cloud of dust.

Inside, we took down the last of our enemies and recovered our energy. "Is anyone badly hurt?" Geronimo wondered.

"My ears are blown again," I said, feeling a drop of blood running down my jaw.

"Got cut in the cheek by a right hook, but nothing to worry about," Pamela said.

"Yeah, but what about Greyhawk and the boys up top?" Kassim brought up.

"Oh my goodness... Polly!" Nicky exclaimed. "Greyhawk! Greyhawk, do you copy?"

"(buzz) Yeah- (buzz) I only got hit by the shockwave," she replied.

Nicky sighed in relief. "Solid copy..."

"I can't say the same for the rest, though," Paulina continued. "Some fell off the sides and went six meters down, some were too close and got caught in the shockwave..."

"...Adam and Malik..." she looked at them as medics attended them. "They were caught in the fireball. I expect second to third degree burns. Medics are patching them up now."

"Those poor guys..." Hussein mourned. "Extract them and bring 'em to Taureau."

"Affirmative."

Geronimo glanced at the office at the end of the second floor. "C'mon. Let's get Julie out of here."

We gathered our weapons and walked to the office. Thermal vision revealed that there were two people inside it; one sitting on the floor at the right side of the office, the other was standing guard in front of the door. We assumed that it was Julie and 141's informant the colonel was talking about.

I shone light on the office with a flashlight on the bottom rail of my gun. Geronimo gave a knock on the door with Colette behind him. "This is Interpol Agent Geronimo Stilton," he introduced himself.

"I'm opening up, don't shoot!" said the Brit at the door. The door slowly opened by a man with an L86 rifle, wearing The Technologists' combat gear. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You must be 141's informant," Thea said.

The informant peeked out and saw the gaping hole in the roof. "Great God - did they shoot a missile here?"

"Actually, they did," I said.

He turned to the person inside. "Julie, your cavalry has arrived."

"Julie?" Colette called.

"Colette?" Julie responded.

Julie stepped into the light and lunged at Colette for a hug. Then the rest of the Thea Sisters joined in.

"_Oh mon Dieu! J'ai pensé que je ne te reverrais plus jamais,_" Colette cried.

"_Moi aussi!_" Julie said.

They shed tears of joy and exchanged friendly smacks of kisses. It was a reunion we won't forget.

I contacted the exfil as they continued to celebrate. "Rescue 1 Sky, this is The Crew, how copy?" I asked.

"Loud and clear," the pilot replied.

"We've secured the hostage, I'm gonna need your need ETA."

"Three minutes out, over."

"Copy."

"Northern Division 1, this is Northern Division 2, how copy?" said a British soldier.

"Go ahead," Geronimo responded.

"We've got a problem. Another hundred Technologists ditched Objective 4 as a lost cause and they're on their way to you on wheels as we speak."

"That's going to be a problem, soldier. Why aren't some of them in the air?"

"They used their Black Hawks as cover, sir. We disabled most of them."

"Affirmative. Price, prepare to bait them inside. Exfil Phase is in play."

"Roger that. Move inside the hangar, men!" Price hacked.

"Greyhawk, how are the injured men?" Geronimo asked.

"They're being brought down with the drones as we speak," Paulina reported.

"Violet, get more charges from Krieger."

"On it." She sped off downstairs.

"Eyes, can you get me an ETA on those Technologists?" Geronimo asked.

"Uhm... Three minutes."

"Goddammit, we won't extract in time!" Hussein said in frustration.

"We will! Have faith!" Geronimo motivated. "Head for the mountain of debris. The hole in the roof is our extraction point."

"Protect Julie at all costs, girls," Thea ordered her students.

The fortification consisting of many Gurkhas, APCs and AI cars came to the hangar and covered the entrance with the troops already aboard. The tanks had left We escorted Julie to Krieger. We saw Violet unpack a case from the truckbed.

"Julie, get inside and the truck will drive you and itself to the one of Interpol's safehouses," I briefed her. "There'll be agents to keep you safe. Don't you worry, okay?"

She nodded. "But, can I say goodbye to Colette first?"

Colette was already making her way here. "Of course you can..." she said, stowing away her weapon. She came to Julie for a hug and exchanged squeaks.

"_Merci_... for saving me," Julie whispered.

"Your welcome..." Colette answered.

"Girls, we don't have much time," Trap reminded.

"Just a sec..." Colette let go of her embrace. "Take care, _mon ami."_

"I will." Julie got in Krieger's backseat.

"Spirit, Shade, Wraith, Shadow - you guys are on escort duty," I commanded. Violet brought down the case and lifted up the tailgate, then gave him a little pat on the fender. The Mercedes truck began to pull away, and Colette saw Julie wave goodbye from the window with a sad smile. Colette did the same with a two-fingered salute.

Violet unboxed the case that contained the C4 explosives. "Take a few each and go plant them around the hangar," Geronimo instructed.

"What was our backup extraction plan again?" Thea asked, since the C4s weren't a part of it.

Geronimo packed three charges with him. "Blow a hole into the roof if we get trapped, rescue helo sends down ropes and pull us up through the hole with the hostage."

"And the original plan?" I asked, taking two charges with me.

"Get Julie to be chauffeured in one of your cars to a safehouse, escorted by your cars, while we lure what's left of the enemy forces into the hangar and detonate the explosives." I saw what he had improvised. We were doing both.

"Looks like I won't have to blow the hole in the roof, huh?" I chuckled.

We split up. The Specters took east side while The Crew took care of the west. We assumed that they were all going to storm on foot, so we planted the charges and armed them where the enemies would likely run through when the fortification starts to drive off through the back - especially on the plane where the fuel tanks were located. We took 65 seconds.

Time was running out. I was on the scaffolding when I planted the final charge under the plane's right wing. "Danny! We're out of time!" Geronimo radioed from the pile of rubble.

"Copy, I'm on my way," I replied, arming the explosive. I ran down and regrouped with the others. I heard the swooshing of a helicopter above the hangar inbound.

"This is Rescue 1 Sky to The Crew, we have arrived at the extraction point, over," the pilot informed.

"Copy that, send down the rope," Geronimo responded.

"Crew, you've got no time left," Pinky interrupted. "Technologists are a hundred meters and closing!"

The Specters were standing by near Taureau. "You guys get out of here. We'll join the bait team," Hussein volunteered.

The rope from the helicopter dropped on the pile of rubble, and Paulina rappeled down the rope until her boots touched down. "Heyya guys!" she greeted.

"Hook up, we're getting outta here," Thea said. Paulina hooked her karabiner to the rope.

"THEY'RE HERE! GET READY TO MOVE!" Price radioed. I looked back at the glass door. The horde were already down the tarmac leading to the door of the hangar.

"EVERYONE HOOK UP! HOOK UP!" Geronimo yelled.

We promptly clipped on our karabiners at random points of the rope and waited for them to get close. I looked back at the entrance again. They came out of their vehicles, stormed in and opened fire.

"HANG ON!" Geronimo said. Rescue 1 Sky gained altitude and yanked us up one by one. Paulina went first, Geronimo second, then Benjamin, Trap, Pamela, Nicky, Thea, Pandora, myself, Colette, and finally Violet. The pull gave me another wedgie, and it hurt _so _much.

Meanwhile, the enemy troops had nearly set foot into the hangar. "GO! GO! GO!" Price signalled.

The drivers hit the gas and sped out of there as the mounted gunners fired suppressive shots. The Technologist troops were swarming in the hangar all at once.

Violet had finally made it through the roof and we were all in the air. We were clear of the blast radius of the explosives, including our ground forces.

The enemy troops had filled the hangar. It was the time to light 'em up. "THEY'RE ALL IN THE HANGAR! DO IT NOW!" Price said.

"_Au revoir, putain,_" Violet bid farewell.

The detonator was in her hand.

She gripped it.

The C4 charges detonated and blasted inwards around the enemy forces. The blast had ruptured the plane's fuel tank and ignited the kerosene in a ball of flames. Glass windows shattered. Smoke and fire filled the hangar and burned the enemy forces alive, rushing out of the windows. Thousands of pieces of glass and steel showered down in a deadly rainfall.

The hole in the roof acted as a chimney. The heat and flames from the explosion burst out from it, almost roasting us midair. We had to endure it for three seconds.

"Is everyone okay?" Geronimo asked, shouting.

"That was TOO close!" I stated loudly.

"Violet! Are you okay!?" Thea wondered.

"HEIGHTS!" she screamed. The helicopter kept climbing higher as it began to cruise.

"Price, I need you and some of the division to catch up to the hostage and escort her to the safehouse," Geronimo requested.

"Wilco, Geronimo. Over," he replied.

I celebrated our victory by enjoying the wind in my face. "The girls are rescued, what now?" I said.

''I don't know... Cheese dinner?" Trap suggested.

"You shouldn't be celebrating just yet, because trouble's far from over," Pinky said. She rained all over our parade.

"How come?" Thea asked, sounding grave.

"Check the specs." A live news feed popped up in a window in our HUD.

_"Following the successful rescues of the abducted designers of the Interpol Tactical Fashion Week and the liberation of a few French cities occupied by the British extremist organization, The Technologists, Paris had just been overrun by militants of the group. Citizens in areas around the Eiffel Tower in a one-mile radius have been evacuated by the French police as they try to recapture the city. French Defence Minister Francois Hollande states that this will be their final attempt of bringing Interpol to its knees and he will do whatever he can in his power to stop the organization-"_

The newscast began to fade away as static blocked the audio when another transmission was trying to take over the frequency. It was black, and then the face of the main enemy appeared with the setting brightly lit. The background behind Williams was so out of focus intentionally, we couldn't make out where he was. He looked furious

_"You think you can stop me...!? Interpol can't stop me, not the French, NOT ANYONE! Did you really think that THAT was all I had!? You haven't gotten a clue of what I'm capable of!" _He turns the camera around to show a person bound to a chair with a sack covering his head. _"This is another message for Danial Arif... If you don't appear at the Eiffel Tower in twenty minutes, you will be held accountable for the life that I'm going to take away."_

Williams unmasked the victim. My heart stopped when I saw that he was a person that I knew.

"Firas...!" I whispered in shock.

_"Danny, help me! Please, I don't wanna die!"_ He was crying in fear, squirming for his life.

Williams put the sack back on and turned the camera facing him._ "You make sure you come alone by then or I will execute him on international live television!" The feed went black._

I was petrified.

The color of his eyes... just like how I saw them in the ransom video.

"Danny... it's your call," Geronimo radioed. "Whether if you decide go or not, we'll be with you all the way."

"You got my full support, bro," Benjamin said.

"Mine too," Thea added.

"Yeah!" Trap agreed.

Paulina looked down to me, but I didn't notice. "The Thea Sisters consider you as family, Danny."

Firas was once a friend of mine. The closest I ever had. He was the closest thing I had to a sibling until Thea came. He had done so much just standing by me and he never left my side. I knew that had to do the same. Because he's my friend.

And I'll never leave his side.

"Let's go save an old friend!" I decided.

Geronimo immediately contacted the pilot. "Rescue 1 Sky, I need you to take us to the Eiffel Tower," he said.

"Copy, setting course for the Eiffel Tower. ETA is ten minutes," the pilot said.

The pilot turned the Black Hawk around and headed for the Eiffel Tower.

* * *

**Paris, France  
2315 hours**

We had arrived in Paris. We had been riding while being hooked on the rope all the way from the airport. The city was empty where there weren't any battles. Otherwise, sounds of gunfire can be heard in the distance accompanied by sirens blazing. We flew low over the buildings and trees, and the current scene of Paris from a bird's-eye view was - for the first time - uncomforting.

We approached the Tower from the northeast and circled so we'd approach it from the southeast. The pilot found a suitable spot for us to land us at; _Champ de Mars. _The long stretch of lawn was big enough for our helicopter to hover low. We unhooked in turns as soon as our feet had touched the soft grass.

The streets were empty after the citizens were evacuated - nothing but abandoned cars parked randomly on the road by drivers who failed to flee in their cars. It was quiet as a ghost town. Some of the surrounding buildings looked war-ravaged, even when the attack was recent. The cold, freezing wind from the helicopter's rotors blew on us. The night was dark, but the city's lights were still lit. The luscious trees were untouched, and that was a good sign that there was no fighting in this area.

"If you're going there alone, we'll cover your six if anything happens," Geronimo proposed. "We move in slowly between the trees, the darkness will give us a low profile. We split up into teams of five on each side."

"Move out!" Thea cued.

I teamed with Thea, Trap, Pamela, and Colette. Geronimo had Nicky, Violet, Pandora, and Violet. My team moved right, Geronimo's went left. We crept in between the trees, silently moving up. There wasn't much cover around the parks, so we had to conceal our movement. Thea took point while I was right behind her.

"Clear, move up," Thea signalled.

We made distance with Rescue 1 Sky. We heard them take off and flew forward along Champ de Mars, heading slightly right. But unexpectedly, a sound of something like a launching missile coming from the tower. A faint yellow light was following Rescue 1 Sky at a much faster speed. The light was an actual missile locked on them.

The missile hit the tail boom with a clap. The helo lost stability and we watched in horror as it spun on it's way down.

"Mayday! Mayday! We're going down!" The pilot said into the comms.

The helicopter disappeared from the horizon, going behind buildings. We heard a violent crash right after that.

We were absolutely stunned.

We mourned the Black Hawk's crew's deaths. It was downright brutal. Something inside me triggered. "I will avenge thee, Rescue 1 Sky..." I whispered.

We made it to the end of Champ de Mars. Across the road was the magnificent French landmark - the Eiffel Tower. It's lights were still on and it shone for the people to see - if there were any left.

We were a few feet from the road, hidden in some bushes. I thought only for a short while before I bid my goodbyes. "I guess I'll be going now, guys," I said.

"We'll be behind you if anything seems wrong," Geronimo reminded.

I was stepping out of my bush when Thea grabbed my arm. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" she asked.

"I consider him as family after what we've been through," I told her.

She gently let go."Be careful." I nodded.

I came out of cover and walked over slowly and calmly (though anxious) towards the middle of the lawn and paused. I faced the tower and looked up upon it, breathing out a heavy sigh. I kept walking towards it until I reached the street.

"Leave your firearms there," demanded a voice over a loudspeaker. It was definitely him talking.

I did as I told. I dropped the HK417, my Glock, and my Unica 6. I took off my helmet too for all I cared.

I proceeded to the tower again. It felt lonely, but I knew that there were people watching over me, and people watching _me. _I stopped when I got under the tower.

"I'M HERE WILLIAMS!" I shouted. I looked around for anyone. "THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME, YOU CAN LET FIRAS GO NOW! HE'S NOT INVOLVED IN ANY OF THIS!

"SHOW YOURSELF! WHERE ARE YOU!?" I yelled louder.

"Behind you..." I turned around, seeing no one there.

Not until he jumped from the first level.

He landed in a crouching position with one leg extended sideways, looking down. He rose up, slowly lifting his face and revealing his eyes and half of his face burnt. He wore black tactical combat gear.

"Williams..."


End file.
